


Thieves Without a Metaverse

by LyssiLyssi



Series: After the Metaverse [1]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Complicated Relationships, Dark, F/F, F/M, Focus on P5 cast, Gen, Heist, Horror, Hurt, In it for the long haul, Moral Dilemmas, Multi, New Phantom Thieves, P4 and P3 casts show up eventually, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Harm, Set in P5 timeline but contains P5R characters, The Phantom Thieves are literal thieves now, don't judge the messy tags, no beta we die like men, sometimes TW worthy stuff but not too often
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:21:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 36
Words: 159,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23320858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyssiLyssi/pseuds/LyssiLyssi
Summary: 6 Years after the events of Persona 5, Ren thought he had put his thievery behind him. However, it's hard to reliably fight corruption when your opponent is pulling every dirty trick out of the book, even using what might be the Metaverse despite its apparent disappearance years before. And with their adversary attempting to ruin their lives one by one, Ren and co have no choice but to fight fire with fire.Donning his infamous mantle again, Ren, his friends, and confidants set out to fight the corruption in the best way they know how: by becoming (or assisting, or in some cases, even joining!) the Phantom Thieves once more in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse that may hold much more than what originally meets the eye. They don't have the Metaverse to cover their tracks this time. If they're caught, it's over.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Iori Junpei/Yoshino Chidori, Kirijo Mitsuru/Takeba Yukari, Kujikawa Rise/Narukami Yu, Kurusu Akira & Sakura Futaba, Kurusu Akira & Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Suzui Shiho, Niijima Makoto & Sakura Futaba, Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann, Shirogane Naoto/Tatsumi Kanji
Series: After the Metaverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792243
Comments: 265
Kudos: 272
Collections: Dark Persona fics





	1. Prelude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this prelude I dropped a reference to one of my favorite shumako fanfics, I'd be interested to see if anyone noticed it!

Officer Niijima Makoto stared straight ahead as she walked down the hallways of her precinct in Shibuya Police Station, her face all business. Not that it wasn’t ever not business, anyway. She was serious about her job, and everyone knew it. Despite being on the police force for only a year and change, she had already accomplished what most do in three.

This popularity didn’t come without a cost, however. Many men in the precinct jeered that she was only this successful because the higher ups were interested in her as a woman. So, they’d give her some slack. Or maybe, some extra brownie points. Still though, her nickname, the “Iron Fist of Justice,” wasn’t given without letting the results speak for themselves. It wasn’t often that people came by a person as dedicated, as loyal, and as beautiful as she was.

Others would look at her with jealousy, annoyance, and daresay even hatred. Wondering how a woman, of all people, could go from being a fresh recruit in the Shibuya Police Squad 29, to the rank of Police Detective. How she effortlessly climbed through the ranks that others had been stuck in for years was a mystery that perhaps only the late Detective Prince Goro Akechi, who had been missing for 6 years (or presumed dead, depending on who you asked), could solve.

Makoto knew all this. She wasn’t blind, nor deaf, to the uncomfortable rumors that plagued her. She also knew that if she were a male, people would no doubt react much differently. Instead of hearing the hushed whispers of “Look at the Iron Fist, she’s already cracked another case” in the offices, she would probably get a clap on the back and a handshake on a job well done. She knew that Japan was dominated by a male culture. She knew that her dream to become a police commissioner would be an incredibly harsh road because of it. She knew that while she may be respected, there is also fear behind the voices that work with her.

Makoto knew a lot of things from her time in the force.

She probably could have done very well as a private investigator. Pair that with her sister, the famed defense attorney Sae Niijima, and you had quite the dynamic duo. That thought not only drifted through her head, but she had no doubt it went through the other officers’ as well. For a lot of people, they just care about the money. Or maybe the job security. Makoto wasn’t sure, but she had seen enough in the Metaverse to know what the general public tended to think. She had a reason to be in the force. Something other than fame, or fortune.

Makoto glanced to the side as she walked to see a pair of officers in uniform suddenly shift their gaze downward, as if trying to avoid her. She sighed, and kept her eyes in front of her, nearing the superintendent’s office.

Funnily enough, if anyone ever actually vocally asked her why she was doing all this, why she was so hard driven, why it was almost inhumane in the way she would solve cases at such a rapid pace, they would receive a very simple response that would shatter the belief that her reasons were inhuman.

_I promised to somebody special that I would bring about true justice from the right side of the law._

\----------

Aspiring politician Amamiya Ren let out a heavy sigh and drummed his fingers on the desk in his office, staring at a computer screen.The results of the most recent representative elections were displayed on full screen, but his eyes still couldn’t read the results. It was as if they refused to believe what was plastered on screen.

Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. Maybe he was just reading it wrong. He brought his hands up to his face, and rubbed it with the palms of his hands. They moved past his pursed lips, soft cheeks, dark eyes, and into his messy hair. Opening his eyes while blowing the air out of his cheeks, he reached for his glasses that lay on his desk. Even though they were purely decorative, Ren held onto a tiny tinge of hope, as if the spectacles would magically change the poll numbers in front of his eyes.

They didn’t.

“I don’t understand…” He muttered under his breath, bringing an elbow down onto the desk, propping his head on a balled fist.

“What don’t you understand? What’s wrong? That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting to see.”

Ren tilted his head slightly to look behind his monitor and at the plush leather chair on the opposite side of his office. Sitting on it was a black and white cat with a yellow collar around his neck. He got up on all fours and stretched, before hopping down from his resting place to make his way over to the desk.

Ren sighed again. If anybody saw him talking to an ordinary cat, they would think he was delusional.

To him, and several others, however, this was no ordinary cat. In fact, you’d probably hear hissing if you called him one.

“I lost, Morgana… I lost…” was all Ren could get out.

“Wait, what?”

Morgana jumped onto Ren’s desk in one fluid motion and stared at the screen. His jaw went slack.

“No way… Weren’t you projected to win by a total landslide? The prediction was 80% to 20% in your favor!”

Ren could simply nod as he turned his attention back to the screen, which read: ‘Ren Amamiya: 30%’

Just as the ‘cat’ had said, it should have been a landslide. His opponent for his seat should have been a pushover. But now, everything that he had worked for up until this point, had been destroyed. Until the next election, at least. But that was years away. Years that Ren didn't want to waste.

Still, something was off. He narrowed his eyes at his opponent on the screen, unblinkingly staring back at him with a certain type of smile on his face. The first issue was that Ren had never seen that man smile before, until now. The second, more haunting issue, was that Ren could recognize his smile like the back of his hand. Most couldn’t, but when you dealt with the surreal, the real became much easier to see through.

Morgana recognized it too. “That looks just like all the smiles from 6 years ago… It looks.. Fake.”

Ren nodded his head in silent agreement. Something was amiss. Something seemingly foul has obstructed his quest for true justice. Something that reminded him all too much of the sort that he used to punish 6 years ago.

He quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket, and reached to the top contact in his favorites list.

It was time to use true justice that a special someone spoke so highly of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, here we go! This is an idea that I had but was also seen in another fanfic called 'The Heist at Shido Technologies'. It's one of my favorites so I highly recommend you check it out! Unfortunately, it was only a one-shot, but the idea of the Phantom Thieves being thieves in reality seems to be a topic that isn't explored too much. Or maybe I'm just blind. I wished to explore the idea more, so I'm gonna write and update this as I go.
> 
> It's also worth noting that aside from the relationships (since there are none in P5 canon), and except for the addition of a few characters (not OCs, actual Persona series characters), this fic will be set after normal canon! Yaldabaoth was defeated, Akechi is dead/missing (however you look at it, I know opinions differ), the Metaverse vanished, and other canon events will be exactly as they were in the game. So basically, this is my idea of a '6 years later' sequel to the canon game, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna get creative with it. ;3
> 
> Either way, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy! :)
> 
> Update: This fic has gained some traction and a reliable audience, so I'm going to be uploading a chapter every Friday!


	2. Corruption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I'm not the hugest fan with how the first couple of chapters ended up. But they're necessary, since they set up the situation. Much more exciting stuff is coming in the next few chapters though, I promise!

The Amamiya-Niijima apartment was very quiet that night.

Makoto held on tight to Ren, rubbing his - as always - messy hair softly with her calloused hands. She scratched his scalp as he nuzzled into her shoulder, unblinkly watching the tv tuned to their favorite game show. It was all she could do. It was all she _knew_ how to do. When he got like this, it was as if all she was capable of was holding him tight and whispering, “I’m here, don’t worry.” Nothing really seemed to get to him, except one thing: The cat who had been living with him since day 3 of this entire mess.

His silent moping was cut short by a boyish voice.

“Hey! You better not shut down on me, alright? Are you going to let this defeat get to you? You have stood up to a _god_ , and won. You summoned Satan to save Christmas. And yet here you are, acting as if losing the election was worse than quite literally fading from existence.”

Morgana hopped onto the coffee table in their living room, looking at the pair cuddling on the couch. Makoto trained her eyes on Morgana, but Ren continued to stare at the tv. The small black head turned to return Makoto’s gaze. After a short second, she motioned to Ren by shifting her eyes to the side, which Morgana took as an invitation to hop onto his lap.

Ren blinked at the sudden weight on his legs, and looked down to see two beady eyes staring back at his. Followed by a cat’s paw smacking him across the face.

“Did you hear _any_ of what I just said? Get yourself together!”

“... I forget that you have a surprisingly strong slap, for a cat.” Was Ren’s response. If there was one thing that Ren had retained throughout his years after his days of thievery, it was his suave, sarcastic, and gentlemanly attitude. The type of attitude that would get you into trouble, yet also get you out of it just as easily.

If cats could visibly sigh, then Morgana just gave an example. “I’m not a- oh, whoops. Force of habit.”

That earned a chuckle from Ren, who led a hand down to scratch the back of Morgana’s neck. 

“Morgana, you need to teach me how to do that. Nothing that I do seems to work to help him when he gets like this.” Makoto used this opportunity to relax, lightening her grip on Ren in favor of leaning herself back into the sofa. Her hand moved down to his back, which she started to scratch with her short nails as if on autopilot.

Morgana sat on his hind legs and puffed his chest out proudly. “You lack 5 years on me of living with Joker! It’ll take you a very long time to be as good as me, you know!”

“Then I suppose you’ll need to give me a crash course, and you know that I’m a quick study. What’s lesson 1?”

“Lesson 1?” Morgana hummed while thinking of a response. “Be a cat.”

This time, both Ren and Makoto found themselves chuckling.

Morgana took that as an excuse to hop off of Ren’s lap, and back to the coffee table. “Glad you’re feeling better, but there’s a lot that we need to think about at the moment. You may have lost your way into politics for now, Ren, but I feel like there’s something more important at stake.”

Ren took a deep breath, and nodded his head. Losing may not have been ideal, yes, but it was not the end of the world. The world of politics was beginning to bore him, anyway. So much time in attempting to enact true justice, while next to nothing was ever actually done. Meanwhile, the corruption in the higher ups continued to spread. He silently wished that the Metaverse had still existed. They could have done so much more…

Both Morgana and Makoto knew exactly what he was thinking about.

“Ren, we don’t have the Metaverse anymore. Plus, we were going to make sure that the two of us enacted true justice from the right side of the law, correct?”

Ren suddenly stood up and wheeled on both the cat and girl. “And look where that’s got us! You’ve solved many cases, but have you actively weeded out any corruption yet?”

Makoto winced at the retort, which caused Ren to soften his tone and frown. He was aware he offended his girlfriend, so he chose his words cautiously going forward. “My point is that we accomplished so much more when we were Phantom Thieves. In less than a year, we did what I hoped to accomplish in a decade as a politician. And because I lost my seat to somebody who is most likely corrupt and had the votes rigged, my supervisor called me and relieved me of my position due to failure of what should have been an incredibly easy victory. All of this _reeks_ of corruption, and there isn’t a damn thing that I could feasibly do about it. Not while fighting clean, at least. Which would make things fruitless, because of course I would be going up against those who don’t abide by the rules in the first place.”

Ren rarely talked so much in a single stretch. Makoto knew that when this happened, whatever topic was on his mind was something that he was so frustrated with, he’d get frustrated at his own frustration. Basically, he got frustrated as all hell.

The room was silent for a little while, save the cheering and excitement of the contestants on the game show. 

Makoto was the first to break the tension in the air. “When you called me earlier today about seeing if I could get access to the files you asked for, I couldn't. My rank in the force wasn't high enough. But today, I was… promoted. To the rank of police corporal.”

Ren blinked. Morgana stopped mid-lick of his paw.

She had tried it as a last-ditch attempt to brighten the mood. It was a huge deal for her. For them. And all three of them knew it.

It wasn’t that they needed the money. The sheer amount of Yen the Phantom Thieves accrued in the Metaverse saw to that. It also didn’t help much when Haru showered them with gifts, including their current apartment, as tokens of friendship. It was incredibly hard to say no to Haru when she would don, well… _that_ demeanor.

What it meant was one step closer to Makoto’s dream of becoming a police commissioner. It was one step closer to rooting out corruption in the name of true justice. It was one step closer to providing a safe and positive environment for the entire city of Tokyo, at the least. And it was one step closer to prevent situations such as the one that sent one Amamiya Ren to Tokyo. That reason was personal, and to all three of them no less. To all the Phantom Thieves, even.

Silence continued to fill the air, a hazy tension forming.

Makoto opened her mouth to try to quickly fumble an apology for bringing it up when she was suddenly pulled into Ren. Their waists touched together, yet their faces were apart. Makoto blushed slightly, while Ren grinned.

“There was no doubt in my mind you’d get there quickly, my Queen.” Was all Ren said, before leaning in to kiss his girlfriend on her soft lips that he loved so much.

\----------

" _Congratulations on your victory, Masao-san_."

The man named Masao gave a brief chuckle as he looked at his monitor screen. Using his free hand, he picked up his glass of whiskey to take a sip. 

Adjusting his phone in his other hand, he spoke. "You have my thanks. I am indebted to you to have your backing. To think that the polls would be that easy to manipulate… I suppose that makes sense when you have friends in high places, yes?"

" _Indeed. And there is much more to come if you continue to follow under my patronage_." The voice on the other end replied.

"While I do greatly appreciate your help, I have one question to ask. Why come to an aspiring politician such as myself when you already secretly hold so much control? You have nothing to gain from me."

The voice on the other end grunted. " _It was less about you, and more about the person who was chosen to run against you_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, my writing is probably going to slow down some when Persona 5 Royal comes out in a few days. I wrote ahead so I should at least have a chapter a week uploaded for the next several weeks, though! I'm gonna try sticking to that schedule but if it starts becoming too much with my limited time, I'll dial it back. I'd rather take longer and actually get through the fic as opposed to writing a bunch then burning out.


	3. Ren Commits a Crime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been writing a lot due to being stuck inside with the quarantine, so enjoy another chapter now that I still have a decent buffer for after Royal comes out!

“Ren, Morgana, I’m home.”

Makoto called out from the apartment entrance as she took off her shoes, setting them on the rack.

She didn’t get a response aside from the yawning sound a cat would make. 

She stepped past the entryway to find Ren laying down on the couch, laptop resting on his chest. He was still in his pajamas - the trademark sweatpants and black shirt - with Morgana at his side, seeming to be waking up from a nap.

“Did you not go outside at all today? That’s bad for your health, you know. You should have at least exercised.” Makoto, the ever health-conscious one of the two, placed a hand on her hip.

“I did some core exercises earlier today, I’m good.” Ren mumbled, not even looking up from his laptop.

It had been 4 days since Ren lost. Aside from Ren hanging out around the apartment, nothing much had changed. Makoto already worked late nights, so she was no stranger to the coming home late routine that her new training required. She did worry slightly for Ren - It was hard enough to tell what he was thinking, but he had been particularly quiet as of late. Quieter than usual. When Makoto had asked Morgana what he was up to, all he did was shrug and say “He’ll tell you.” She’s asked on three different occasions so far, all ending with the same answer. And Makoto trusted her boyfriend, so she let him be. Although, she hoped to find out soon, if at least to help him in any way she could…

She already had a pretty strong idea of what he was doing. She also hoped that it wasn't what she thought it was.

Pushing her thoughts aside, Makoto held up a plastic grocery bag, which seemed to contain takeout.

“I brought home sushi for dinner. And before you ask, Morgana, I got you fatty tuna.” She said with a smile on her face.

\----------

Two poke bowls and a slab of fatty tuna later, Ren had found himself back on the couch, laptop once again in front of him. Makoto had hers as well, although she sat at the table - there was much paperwork to be done. Meanwhile, Morgana paced around the coffee table, occasionally ducking under Ren’s legs.

His impatience finally pushed through. “C’mon, Joker, how are you not ready with it yet?”

“Oh? Ready with what?” Makoto stopped typing to lean back in her chair and watch the pacing cat.

“Morgana, I told you to stop calling me that. Joker doesn’t exist anymore. None of our Metaverse counterparts exist anymore.” He closed his laptop to focus his attention on the cat under his legs.

Morgana gave the cat equivalent of a smug smile. "I've been calling you by your code name for years now! Besides, if the Metaverse names aren’t used anymore, then why do you normally call Makoto Queen in the bedr-”

“ _ Shut it! _ ”

Ren’s face turned a hint of pink, but he could hear giggling coming from Makoto. Sighing happily, she got up from her chair to plop down next to Ren on the couch, before motioning to his laptop.

“Are you finally gonna tell me what you’ve been working on?”

The messy-haired boy pondered for a moment, then opened it back up. Makoto’s eyes went wide, and she drew her head back. Even though her guess was correct, it was still surprising nonetheless.

“Wh-Where did you get that?!”

She was staring at the classified files of one “Masao Takuro” that she had failed to obtain several days ago. Her rank wasn’t high enough, and it would be highly suspicious for an officer to ask for a politician’s files right out of the blue.

Ren shrugged nonchalantly. “I pulled a favor from our favorite unofficial little sister.”

Makoto took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. “If I had half a mind right now, I would arrest both you and Futaba on the spot.” Standing up, she walked over to her police belt that was set on a wall hook near the entryway, grabbing at her badge. Spinning around, she called out in a mock tough voice.

“Amamiya Ren, you are under arrest for illegal possession of documents and stealing my heart!”

Ren simply smirked and thrust out his wrists, his head tilting to look at the floor. “Then go right ahead, officer Niijima.”

What he didn’t expect, however, was to actually feel handcuffs on his wrists. He looked up from the floor and blinked, a sad expression on his face. “What gives?”

“Two hours.”

Ren frowned.

“You’re lucky I used to be a criminal too, you dork.” It was Makoto’s turn to smirk. “And you’re also lucky that I would like to know what’s in those files as much as you do. As illegal as this is…”

“Well, since my hands are tied, would you like to do the honors?”

“Nope, this is all you. You’re not getting off clean from this one, so make do.” A stern Makoto said while flicking his forehead, causing him to wince visibly.

A faint chuckle was heard from Morgana as he leapt up to the armrest of the sofa to get a view of the screen. “Now, let’s see if we can uncover anything suspicious about this Masao…”

Ren double-tapped on the file, and all three of them widened their eyes.

The file, aside from basic public information (such as schooling and the like), was completely empty. No summaries, no list of previous jobs and/or potential crimes, nothing. It was more than a clean slate. It was almost as if there was no slate at all. Not even a trace of one. Well, aside from whatever file this was, of course.

“His record is… completely clean…” Makoto mumbled under her breath. “It’s too perfect. No politician ever has a completely clean record, let alone nearly no details at all.”

“Hey, what about me?”

Makoto scoffed. “Your record would say that you were the leader of the Phantom Thieves, even though the police kept it on the down low six years ago.”

"And Shido’s accusation of assault?”

Makoto shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t be there. It was overruled. That was how we managed to get you out of juvenile hall so quickly.”

Morgana’s tail swished in the air. “While I wouldn’t rule this out, I doubt that this guy would have overruled cases, too. Those are extremely rare in the first place.”

“Mhm, they are.” Makoto confirmed, shaking slightly. “I really don’t know how you managed to determine that just from a picture of him, but this is awfully fishy.”

Ren flashed a grin. “You could say it’s my sixth sense.” The smile immediately reverted back to a puzzled frown as he turned his attention back to the laptop. “I can check with Futaba to see if maybe the file is incomplete or corrupted, but-”

“God Dammit!”

Ren jumped as Makoto slammed her fist on the coffee table. She turned towards him, fire in her eyes. “Do you know what this means? For a politician’s file to be doctored, you’d need to have friends in high places in the police force who can access that information. And on top of that, you’d need to make sure the info isn’t even cross-checked in the first place when candidates are chosen. A file this barren wouldn’t pass in court, they would need more details before allowing someone to run for any political position.”

“So, you’re saying that there’s a sizable amount of corruption within the police force.  _ Again _ …” Morgana said softly, disappointment evident in his voice.

Ren laid the laptop on the coffee table and held his face in his hands. For there to be this much corruption, yet again. And only after 6 years, too. It didn’t make sense.

He sat back, staring at the ceiling. “Shido’s confessions, combined with my testimony, eradicated nearly all the corruption present in the police force. Not every politician had sided with Shido. It could be somebody outside of his influence, but how was all of our work undone this quickly?”

Unfortunately, none of them had an answer to his question.

After a long period of silence, Makoto spoke up. “I can try to poke around tomorrow to see if I find anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps I could sneak into the commissioner's office…” Her voice trailed off.

“Are you serious? If you got caught doing that, there would be great consequences, you know!” Morgana yelped and pawed Makoto’s knee. “Why would you try something that risky?”

Makoto could only sigh. “When you’re up against somebody who is willing to do anything to stop you, sometimes you have to fight back just as dirty.”

A pause.

“It’s not like stuff like this never happens in the first place, anyway. Not everyone in the force is a saint.”

“Clearly,” Muttered Ren, his gaze falling back to the nearly empty file. “But what about your dream, to become a police commissioner fair and square?”

Another long pause.

“Because, Ren… Because you are also my dream. And I can’t just idly stand by, watching, while my dream guy gets his own goals crushed. And by foul means, no less.”

She reached out her hand to grab his, flinching when she felt metal. She had forgotten that he was cuffed.

Her voice was met with silence, so she continued. “And, well… I-If the police force is as corrupted as it might turn out to be, I can always do what my sis did and strike my own path. There’s more than one way to reach my goal. A police commissioner was one way. But there are others, too. And if I get caught and something happens? So be it. I wouldn’t want to work for a corrupted force anyway.”

Yet another long pause.

Ren said nothing, but squeezed Makoto’s hand.

She squeezed back.


	4. Gremlins will be Gremlins

> **_Ren:_ ** _Did you also have a look through that thing you sent me?_
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _You mean Masao’s file?_
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _What- you can’t just go saying stuff like that!_
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _Do I need to remind you that I encrypt all of our chats, including our friends’ phones, right? We can talk about Masao’s file openly and none would be the wiser, even if somebody was looking for evidence._
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _How do you even do that?_
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _Secret! :3_
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _Anyway, I also took a look. I wasn’t gonna_ not _look at the files of the guy who unfairly beat my big bro!_
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _So you think something is fishy too?_
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _Hells yeah! You were gonna win by a landslide! I did a quick, totally legal search on this guy, and came up with almost nothing. It’s like he barely even existed before this election._
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _Makoto says “totally legal, huh? Should I also put handcuffs on you?”_
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _“Also”? Whaaaaat? Ren is going to jail by Makoto’s hand? Top 10 anime betrayals!_
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _It’s just for two hours, and one hour is already up. But keep your wrists separated next time you hang out with Makoto while she’s in uniform._
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _You’ll never catch me, copper! 凸( •̀_•́ )凸_
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _We’re getting sidetracked. Tomorrow, Makoto is going to try to sneak into the commissioner’s office and scout the room._
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _Why do anything risky when I could just do it from the comfort of my own home? Do you doubt my skillz?_
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _Makoto says that the police commissioner’s computer is heavily encrypted and if it is broken into, it automatically traces back where the hack came from. Plus, she wants to look in the office itself for any non-digital evidence._
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _For the record, I would never doubt your skill’z’. Makoto just wants to air on the side of caution. She says she has reasons she could be in the office in the first place._
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _Geez Makoto, that hurts my feelings. ｡ﾟ･（ >﹏<）･ﾟ｡ _
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _This is exciting though, it’s like a mini-heist! The Phantom Thieves are back in action!_
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _Just this once, Futaba. If you’re ever craving more Phantom Thief stuff, you could always just look up the fanfiction people write about us._
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _You think I haven’t? I eat up that stuff! Although since all the public has to go off of is our silhouettes, it’s never really enticing :v_
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _But I can totally recommend it because some of the stuff people come up with about how we stole hearts? HA! You gotta read it yourself!_
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _...I’ll just trust you on that one. Anyway, I’m gonna spend some time with Makoto. We’ll let you know tomorrow how everything goes._
> 
> **_Futaba:_ ** _Good luck Makoto! Give ‘em hell! >:D _

“‘Give em hell’? What does she think I’m doing, taking the office by force?” Makoto sighed as Ren closed his message app. He shrugged.

“You joke, but this is Futaba we’re talking about. This is the same girl as the one who sends disaster alert texts through an official number to get people to vacate lines in ramen shops.”

Makoto shook her head in disbelief. “If I actually took the time to count up all the laws she’s broken…” She held out her fingers to start counting, but Ren quickly pushed her hand back down.

“Let’s just think about that, shall we? Hahaha…” He paused. “But it would probably be a lifetime sentence.” He added quickly, under his breath.

All Makoto could do was roll her eyes. “She’s also lucky that I used to be a criminal… And that her hijinks are usually nothing more but trolling. And if she does do something substantial, it’s always to someone who deserves it.”

“Oh? Starting to fall back on the wrong side of the right, are we?” Ren raised an eyebrow. “First, hiding law breaking acts - you’re an accomplice. Second, you’re going to break int-” He stopped as a hand covered his mouth.

“Yes, yes, I am aware.” She said almost dismissively. “But as you know, I’m not a goody two shoes anymore, and I’m not gonna just keep my head down. Justice is justice, even if we had to do something like stealing hearts. Even if…” She sighed again. “Even if I have to unlawfully enter a police commissioner’s office.”

Ren nodded. “True justice is sticking to the right path, no matter what. And if you think doing this will help bring about true justice, then go for it.”

“God, you two are getting so incredibly sappy. This isn’t some final battle or something.” Morgana mewed from a chair across the two, curled up with his eyes closed. “It’s quite late. You two should go and get some sleep.”

“Morgana, it’s only 11…” Ren started, but Makoto cut him off by standing up and yawning. “Well, it is pretty late. Why don’t we turn in for the night?”

“Fine… can you at least take my handcuffs off so I can get ready for bed?”

“I’m not sure, has it been two hours yet?”

“No…” Ren’s voice was almost sad-sounding. “But hey, if you’re talking about this whole thing as being an attempt at enacting justice, is what Futaba and I did really worth the handcuffs?”

Makoto giggled. “Not really, but at this point it was kinda funny. When was the last time you were even cuffed anyway, Mr. Most Wanted Criminal of the Metaverse?”

Ren’s face fell, his eyes distant and his shoulders slumped. ”Back in prison, when-"

“Oh my gosh I didn't think about that I am _so_ sorry.” Makoto interrupted, her tone pulling a 180 to be something apologetic and sympathetic. Goodness, how could she forget something that significant?

She thought he was over it when he started wearing watches again a couple of years ago. Makoto had no idea just how much handcuffs could stick in your head. Then again, she wasn’t the unfortunate soul who had to wear them.

She immediately dropped down to tightly hug her boyfriend. “That was very insensitive of me, it was so long ago that I wasn’t thinking about it. I’m so so so sorry...”

“... It’s fine. But you could make up for it by taking off my handcuffs now, if that’s alright.” He replied, his face still downcast, eyes on the floor.

Makoto had never fumbled for the handcuff keys so quickly in her life.

\----------

Futaba Sakura yawned and stretched, her hands over her head while her feet kicked the underside of her multi-moniter desk. Rolling her neck, she glanced to the wall towards her digital Neo-Featherman clock, which read 4:21AM.

“Aww, so close…” She muttered under her breath to nobody in particular before standing up. She wiped her eyes under her glasses, her thin body taking short strides outside of her computer room and towards the kitchen to get some food.

It had taken a lot of effort, but Futaba managed to convince herself to strike it out on her own. She did so for a multitude of reasons. The first was that she needed to get out of the room and house that she once considered her tomb. As much as she loved Sojiro, it tended to bring back bad memories. She also saw it in a symbolic way - leaving her tomb to reclaim the life that she once considered forfeit.

Second, Futaba turned 21 years old recently. She took pride in the fact that she was a big girl, with big girl responsibilities and jobs and stuff! And a girl with responsibilities and jobs and stuff can’t live with a caretaker anymore!

She puffed out her chest with her hands on her hips in a prideful stance. _Yeah, I’m a big girl now! That’s why I needed to do this!_

She resumed her saunter to the kitchen, opening the fridge. Her face contorted in a frown at how barren it was, then closed it with a sigh. “I’m gonna need to get Ren to cook me some food…” she muttered quietly as she instead reached for a cabinet. Inside said cabinet was what one would consider a 6 months supply of instant ramen.

“Ugh, only have about 6 weeks left…” Her frown deepened. 

She took out two packs and prepared them swiftly, soon finding herself sitting down on a barstool at the eat-in kitchen counter, snacking on a huge bowl of ramen while scrolling through her phone. She opened up a tracking app she had developed years ago and scrolled down the list of contacts. The girl located Ren’s name and tapped it, delighted to see that he was sound asleep in his apartment. 

She knew that he would be, but to her it was always a comfort. He was her older brother, and the two of them loved each other as siblings so fiercely that you’d think they’ve been inseparable since birth. People often found it surprising to know that they had only known each other for 6 years, and weren’t even related by blood.

That was also precisely why Futaba didn’t want to live anywhere else except the apartment complex that Ren and Makoto resided in. They picked out their apartment a year ago once they decided to live together, and it wasn’t long until Futaba wanted to chase after them.

The redhead picked at her ramen, her thoughts drifting. Sometimes she wondered if she had become a burden on the young couple, but they insisted that she go for it. And while Futaba herself didn’t know this, Ren and Makoto had actually planned it all out. The two of them, as well as Sojiro, wanted Futaba to mature, and her moving out was perhaps one of the best ways to do so. And on top of that, she had a lifeline that she knew she could depend on. Ren was always a few floors away, should she need support.

Except she was lazy most times. Like tonight, for example, when she didn’t feel like going up to Ren’s apartment to discuss their latest news with Masao.

 _And at least I wasn’t cuffed, too. Hmph, damn fuzz._ She thought to herself in a half-joking manner while finishing up the last of her ramen, then retired to her bedroom.

30 minutes passed before Futaba finished her nightly routine and slipped into bed. Staring up to the ceiling, she began to think about those files she had recovered on Masao, as well as the situation as a whole.

_Why do I feel like this small fetch quest for data is gonna turn into a large, multi-step grand quest?_

_Eh, if it happens it happens. At least I’d be able to use my mad hacking skillz again! It’s been so boring doing mostly legal shit, I gotta spice up my life some so I don’t get rusty…_

Her thoughts drifted back to her lawbreaking days in the Phantom Thieves as she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody else enjoying P5R so far? I find myself playing Tycoon a lot in the Thieves Den, that card game is addicting.
> 
> I'm glad this story is getting a decent following so far! I'm happy with the attention it's getting - it's fun to share my ideas with others. So thanks for all the kudos, etc!
> 
> Next chapter is a big one, so stay tuned!


	5. The (Mini) Heist of Shibuya's Precinct

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a fun time writing this one. It's my first ever attempt at a sort of heist situation, so I hope it reads well! I also slightly changed up the way texts are shown, in hopes of making texts stand out for what they are: something on a phone.

“...Taba… wake up…”

“Hmmmmfffff, go ‘way…”

“...Futaba, you need to wake up.”

Futaba moaned a soft incomprehensible reply and pulled her duvet over her head. She hadn’t even looked at the person who somehow had gotten into her room, let alone her apartment, but she already knew it was Ren. He had a key to her place, anyway. But, it was a double-edged sword because she had a key to his, too. She tended to abuse that key.

Ren sighed. “I made you breakfast…”

Futaba’s eyes shot wide open and she sat immediately up in her bed. Ren would’ve jumped backwards in surprise, had he not witnessed this sight so many times beforehand.

“Provisions acquired! What has my private chef made for me?” She turned toward him, grinning.

Rolling his eyes, Ren reached forward to brush some stray strands of the girl’s long hair out of her face. “Omelets. Ham and cheese.”

“Aww, no curry?” a frown tugged its way onto Futaba’s mouth.

“You need to eat more than just ramen and curry. And speaking of ramen, I noticed that you left your bowl on the kitchen counter. Again.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Eh, I’ll clean it up later. Why are you here, anyway? You don’t normally wake me up like this much.”

Ren leaned back in the chair that he had set beside her bed. “It’s 11:47 in the morning. Makoto is going to try to sneak into the office during lunch break, and I figured that you wouldn’t want to miss it.”

Futaba’s eyes went wide, and she propelled herself upright in a single motion. Bouncing off her bed, she landed on the floor with a solid thud. “OHHH YEAH! Quest time; I can’t miss that! You shoulda just texted me, though!”

Ren narrowed his eyes, reaching for her phone on the bedside table without breaking eye contact. After a second he managed to find it and thrust it in front of her face. She tapped the screen to turn it on, her shoulders drooping slightly upon seeing the result.

“Oh. 2 missed calls and 5 missed texts. I maaaaaay have stayed up too late last night and slept through my alarm… But at least I have an alarm set! Right? Right? That’s Progress Ren!” She bounced up and down eagerly, as if awaiting praise.

Ren simply stood up, pat Futaba on the head, and strolled out of her bedroom. “We’ll get there one day.”

Futaba put her hands on her hips, a pout emerging on her face. “Hey you could at least pat my head twice! Ren? I command you to get back here and pat my head again! ...Ren?”

\----------

Makoto glanced at the clock on the wall for what felt like the hundredth time today.

11:57AM

She knew that the commissioner tended to go for lunch around noon. She would have to make her move soon.

Her poker face was pristine, but her insides were a different story. Butterflies flew frantically around her stomach, and her heart was beating at a pace to match them. She nearly jumped out of her seat when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw Futaba had sent a message in a group chat consisting of the two girls and Ren.

> _**Futaba:** We can see you; wave hi to the camera! ٩(^ᴗ^)۶_

Makoto’s eyes widened slightly as she glanced around to make sure nobody could see her phone, before huddling over it. She typed furiously.

> _**Makoto:** Did you seriously hack into the CCTV in the police station? Ren, you and I are going to have a serious talk about this once I get home tonight._
> 
> _**Ren:** Woah, why me?_
> 
> _**Makoto:** Because you didn’t stop her!_
> 
> _**Ren:** Do you know how hard it is to stop that little gremlin?_
> 
> _**Futaba:** ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ_

Makoto made a small groan. _Well, may as well just roll with the punches._

> _**Makoto:** ...Point taken. Can you at least be my eyes, since you’re already here?_
> 
> _**Futaba:** Muehehehe, that was the plan from the start! I thought it was your plan too!_
> 
> _**Futaba:** I’ve got 500 yen on you being caught!_
> 
> _**Ren:** Don’t worry, she’s not going to intentionally get you caught for that._
> 
> _**Makoto:** WHY are you even betting on this in the first place? This is a SERIOUS matter, you two!_
> 
> _**Futaba:** Oh well look at that, the commissioner just left for lunch. Keep your phone close - I’ll be your navigator! Quest start!_

Makoto took a deep breath, and gave the camera in the shared office the trademark Niijima death glare. After a second or two, she was sure that the message had gotten across before she rose from her seat to start the first (mini) heist she had performed in 6 years.

\----------

Ren audibly gulped.

“Why did you tell her about the bet? I am in so much trouble when she gets home…”

“Mueheheheheh, you’re always welcome to crash at my place tonight!”

She felt a hand from behind lightly karate chop her on the head. “Not helping.”

“Fiiiiiiiine, sorry I brought it up…” She muttered while typing away on her laptop.

The two of them were sitting back to back on Futaba’s daybed that she kept in her computer room. Futaba was on her laptop, wires connecting it to her main setup, while Ren held a tablet. The tablet could freely swap between all the cameras in the station, which he utilized to follow Makoto’s tracks as she made her way up an elevator towards the top of the building, where the commissioner’s office resided. He saw her look down at her phone as his own buzzed, a text from Futaba ringing through.

> _**Futaba:** Ok, once you get off the elevator, go to the commissioner’s office and knock on the door._
> 
> _**Makoto:** But we know he’s not there, why would I do that?_
> 
> _**Futaba:** It’s to give you an alibi you dummy, just follow as I say._

The redhead heard Ren chuckle behind her, his back moving on hers up and down in tune with the laughter.

“Ah, I see what you’re doing. Clever…”

Futaba grinned.

\----------

_Why would I go to the office that I’m going to break into and knock? That doesn’t make any sense…_

Makoto made an internal frown as she rounded the corner to the commissioner’s office. It was tucked into the corner of the top floor of the precinct, giving him the most privacy out of any potential office in the building. It had originally been some type of storage room, but the commissioner had insisted that he wanted to move his office there. Makoto had never given it much thought, but if he did have something to hide, being so far away from everything else would make it much easier for him…

She halted her thoughts as she came up to his door. Reading the nameplate, she called out while knocking. “Sugawara-san? Are you inside?”

As expected, the office was quiet, and the lights were off.

Makoto peeked through the small glass window in the door frame, before her phone buzzed again.

> _**Futaba:** Now go back to the women’s restroom that you passed two hallways ago._

The short-haired girl kept her poker face on the outside, but she rolled her eyes on the inside. Why is she making me do this? She could have just cut the cameras and made this process much simpler…

Eventually, Makoto reached the women’s bathroom, went inside, and made her way to a stall.

> _**Makoto:** Ok, I’m here. Now what?_
> 
> _**Futaba:** This is your alibi. You went to go talk to the commissioner, but he wasn’t in. On the way back to your desk, you decided to make a bathroom break because your stomach didn’t feel well, and you really couldn’t wait._

“Flattering.” Makoto whispered under her breath, as the next text message popped up.

> _**Futaba:** I’m going to loop the cameras between you and his office, so you won’t be seen backtracking. The guy’s an idiot - his lock is electronic and is connected to the building’s network, so I can hack into it and open it up for you._
> 
> _**Makoto:** It’s typical police regulations. It’s so every lock can be simultaneously locked or unlocked if need be. I have a fingerprint scanner to find the prints on the keypad, too._
> 
> _**Futaba:** No need, you got me! Get into his office, stick that flash drive into his computer, then search the room. Meanwhile, Ren will be keeping a lookout using the cameras. He’ll let you know if anybody is coming your way. I need to mess around more with their camera system, so they don’t notice I’m here._
> 
> _**Futaba:** Once you’re done, leave the room and head back to the bathroom. I’ll restore the cameras, and then you walk out as if nothing happened. And BAM! Heist complete!_
> 
> _**Ren:** Good luck Mako!_

Makoto sighed. It wasn’t too complicated of a plan, but it seemed quite well thought out. She began to harbor a suspicion that this was something the Trickster and his little gremlin sister had planned from the get-go. Not that it mattered too much to her in the end. It was definitely better than the half-assed plan she had thought of, which had probably too many holes to count.

She chided herself. I could have came up with something just as good if I had the time to plan for it. But then again, we didn’t discover the sketchy file until last night. Had the two of them been planning this since 4 days ago?

Her phone buzzed yet again.

> _**Futaba:** The cameras are looped. Go Queen goooo!_

Makoto took a deep breath in before standing up to exit the stall. Exiting the bathroom nonchalantly, she made her way back towards the commissioner’s office. Glancing up at a blinking camera that she passed gave her a bit of comfort, knowing she had an ace hacker and former leader of the Phantom Thieves at her back. It wasn’t the police watching her moves now, it was those who she trusted much more instead.

As she stepped into the last stretch of the hallway before her target office, Makoto reached into her pocket to pull out her police gloves. Putting them on, she rounded the corner to see the door was already unlocked. Grinning, she opened the door without any difficulties, and slipped into the room before closing the door silently behind her.

Makoto had been in this room before. The commissioner, Sugawara-san, had called her into his office before. He had personally congratulated her on moving up the ranks so quickly, and mentioned that should she ever have concerns or questions, to bring them to him for help.

Being in a corner office, the room had a wraparound window that displayed a third of the city of Tokyo. Walking up to the window, Makoto glanced down to see Shibuya, as busy as always with full traffic of both the vehicle and pedestrian variety. Her mind briefly went back to the day the world fused with Mementos, when the people didn’t seem to care about all the bone structures that had erupted out of the city.

Shaking her head to bring herself back to the task at hand, Makoto about-faced to see the rest of the room. A large, wooden desk dominated the office, with two monitors atop it. She could see the computer itself on the floor next to a leg of the table, and a trash can on the opposite side. Pictures of Tokyo and Sugawara were hung around the walls that weren’t glass, most of the ones with him in it being an occasion where he received an award of some sort.

_That’s a bit self-centered. I wonder if he would have had a palace…_

She made her way to the opposite side of the desk, fished out the usb stick Ren had given her this morning, and shoved it into a usb port. Confirming that the computer made a noise to signify it had connected, she turned her attention to the rest of the room. She searched his desk, but aside from typical officeware, it was sparse. A few files lay in a basket, but upon inspection, showed little to no relevance to what she was looking for. The desk didn’t have any drawers, so that was out of the question.

Sighing, she looked around the rest of the room. Some file cabinets were lined up against a wall, and a dresser sat on the back end of the office. The file cabinets themselves weren’t locked, so Makoto quickly shuffled through them. Finding nothing but case files and other random junk, she turned her attention towards the dresser. All of the drawers except for one had a lock on it - a simple keyhole. Taking out a lockpick that Ren had made for her, Makoto moved towards the dresser when her phone buzzed.

> _**Futaba:** I have eyes through your phone. Put me where we can see something!_

Without saying anything, she moved her phone out of her pocket and propped it up against one of the monitors, so the camera could see the back half of the room. Checking that the camera was aligned correctly, Makoto almost jumped out of her skin when Ren’s voice came over the phone’s speaker.

_“Try that dresser first. There’s probably some sort of secret compartment in there.”_

“Don’t scare me like that! I’ve already checked everything else anyways…” Makoto muttered while fiddling with the lock. She wasn’t as near as good at lockpicking as Ren was, but he had given her a bit of practice with some practice locks this morning. It took her several tense minutes, but she eventually heard the signature click and excitedly pulled back the drawer. Inside lay more manilla folders, but this time Makoto’s eyes went wide.

“T-These files… They’re…!”

 _“Oi, pick me up and let me seeeee!”_ Futaba’s impatient voice rang over the phone.

Makoto quickly scooped up her phone and held it above the drawer as she flipped through the files.. “This here… It’s files on every single officer in the precinct! Extremely detailed ones, too!”

 _“Is it odd for the police commissioner to have files on his officers? I imagine they would need to go through background checks.”_ Ren offered feebly, but it sounded like he was already starting to read between the lines.

“Yes, background checks are necessary for every officer. But Ren, these are _case_ files. As if all officers were-”

 _“Being investigated! The plot thickens!”_ Futaba interrupted, and Makoto could imagine the grin on her face. Was this some kind of game to her?

Makoto growled. “Don’t interrupt me. The fact that every police officer is being investigated is extremely fishy. I don’t like what’s going on here… Perhaps Masao’s file is in here somewhere. I’ll flip through to try to find it, but I don’t see any files about politicians in here. They may be located somewhere else-”

Makoto’s breath stopped as she felt herself brush against something on the bottom of the drawer that definitely wasn’t a file. In fact, it felt more like an indention. She quickly placed her phone into her police vest, jamming it into her bra, over the fabric of her shirt, to keep it upright. It was a bit indecent, but she still wanted to give the two at home a solid view of the drawer. Cautiously, as if she were handling a bomb, she used both her hands to remove the files.

All three of them gasped.

At the bottom of the drawer was yet another keyhole, with what looked like tiny hinges in the back edge of the drawer itself. It would’ve been nigh impossible to notice, had she not accidentally ran her fingers over the keyhole, which had been sunken into the wood. At a first glance, it would have looked like a chip in the wood itself. A very convenient chip in the wood.

 _“Awww yiiis! There’s just GOTTA be something in there!”_ Futaba celebrated.

Makoto said nothing, but reached for her lockpick again. This lock proved to be more difficult than the first, and she was about to let out a soft cry of frustration when suddenly Ren’s soothing voice came over the phone.

_“Turn it a little bit to the left. Push it in ever so slightly, wait for that soft click, then thrust the pick upwards. You got this.”_

His words were as smooth as butter, and a wave of calm washed over the now sweating girl. She leaned in, following Ren’s instructions, until she heard a very soft click. Upon hearing the audio cue, she thrust the pick up and to her delight, the lock let out a loud ‘click!’ and the compartment opened. Reaching in with her gloved hand, Makoto pulled out a usb stick. A large grin crossed her face, and she let out a huge sigh of relief.

“This has got to be what we’re looking for! Perhaps it’s also the officer’s investigation files too!”

 _“Celebrate later! Put the stick in the computer first! My own usb stick will automatically copy the files over.”_ Futaba’s voice was almost sing-song. She clearly was in her element, and Makoto chuckled lightly. Futaba truly lived when she was doing anything illegal, and Makoto knew that years of legal freelance coding was probably killing the other girl with boredom.

The brunette plugged the usb into the computer, and she noticed a progress bar had appeared on the screen.

“I think this is what we’re looking for. Once this finishes, I’m going to put everything back, then head out of here.” She said as she pulled her phone out of its position to show the progress bar on the monitor.

_“Perfect. Make sure you leave everything as it was before you came in. Futaba and I are going to stop using the speaker now, she says that she doesn’t want your phone to be tracked via calling signals. We’ll text you if something happens. Keep your phone close. Ren, over and out.”_

\----------

“Over and out? Pfffftttt, what a nerd.” Futaba stifled a laugh as she started typing into her laptop. She started the process to erase the phone call she had initiated with Makoto, making it look like there wasn’t one in the first place so it couldn’t be traced back.

“Oh, shut it. I’ve always wanted to do that. It was a shame we didn’t really have those old-fashioned walkie-talkies in the Metaverse.”

“You know that we could already radio each other, but I guess we didn’t have actual wal-”

“Futaba, we have a problem.” Ren suddenly interrupted, his voice full of worry.

Futaba immediately set down her laptop and sat upright, her back moving away from Ren’s. Spinning around, she placed her hands on his shoulders and peered over them. Ren was looking at the entrance to the precinct, where the commissioner was just beginning to enter the building.

“Geez, only 20 minutes? What kinda short lunch break is that?” Futaba grumbled as she turned again, swinging her feet to dangle off the daybed as she sat her laptop on her lap.

“Should we call Makoto again?” Ren’s voice raised slightly, his concern for his girlfriend clearly showing through. Futaba shook her head.

“Nah, a call could be risky. Send her a text if you want her to know, but you won’t need to.” She turned towards Ren and cocked a smirk on her face, blowing air out of her nose in a “humph”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Why not?”

Futaba turned back towards her laptop. “Just gimme a minute or two. And keep an eye on him, if he gets too close then we’ll switch to plan B!”

“What’s plan B? Wait, what even is plan A?”

Futaba remained silent, so Ren sighed and turned back towards his tablet. “Uh, he just got on the elevator, Futaba…”

Futaba said nothing, but he watched as the commissioner pulled out his phone. His eyes widened slightly, and he typed out a message on his phone.

Futaba’s phone pinged.

“What? What did you do? Ren looked over to Futaba’s phone as she replied a message.

“Oh, I think you’re familiar with this one. Alibaba is paying him a little visit!” She giggled evilly. “It didn’t take long to dig up some blackmail on him. I found footage of him with an escort in a love hotel. I just sent it, saying that if he wished for it to be deleted and not posted on the internet, he was to meet somebody around the block outside the building.”

Sure enough, Ren saw the commissioner exit the elevator, wait for the one going down, then stepped inside. In a couple of minutes, he was back outside the building.

“Wow, that was… a bit over the top. Couldn’t you have said you had a tip on some case or something?”

Futaba pouted. “Whaaat? No way, that’s way too boring! I wanna see him squirm! He’s a bad guy, after all!”

“We aren’t completely sure of that yet, Futaba.”

“Lies! He had a secret compartment in his dresser with a usb stick and everything! This guy has villian written all over him!”

Ren was about to reply when both of their phones went off.

> _**Makoto:** The data will be finished copying over by the time this text has been sent. The locks are self-locking it seems, so our tracks will be covered. I will replace everything in the office as it was when I came in. The door also auto-locks, so don’t worry about that._

“Ohhhh, quest complete!” Futaba cheered, pumping an arm in the air.

“No it’s not. We need to make sure Makoto isn’t noticed before she gets back to her desk.”

“Oh, yeah. We should probably worry about that part, too.”

They were quiet for a minute or two, before Futaba spoke up again.

“By the way, plan B was triggering the fire alarm for the entire building.”

\----------

Makoto let out a big sigh of relief as she closed up the dresser drawer, confirming that it had indeed locked itself back into place. With her usb stick in her pocket, she closed the distance to the door, before pulling out her phone.

> _**Makoto:** Give me the signal when the coast is clear._

There was about 40 seconds of radio silence. Makoto had counted them, each one painfully taking longer than the last.

_Surely Sugawara was coming back soon, right? Ren did say that he would warn me if he was returning…_

Her phone buzzed. She checked it, confirming the all clear from Ren, then slipped out the office. Rounding the corner, she briskly walked down the hallway, only taking a quick second to peek around the corner of the second turn. Confirming that nobody else would be around for when she would make the break to the bathroom, she made her move.

The second hallway was much shorter than the first but felt longer to Makoto, a single bead of sweat dripping down her forehead. If she was caught here, it was all over.

She did her best to push it out of her mind and thankfully, her silent prayers were answered. She entered the bathroom, checked to ensure nobody else was inside, then let another huge sigh of relief once she confirmed she was alone.

As she sat in a stall, her phone vibrated in her pocket again.

> _**Ren:** You looked so nervous when making the trip back. I did tell you that it was all clear, you know?_
> 
> _**Makoto:** You try doing this and not getting nervous about it! I would have been fired for sure if I was caught!_
> 
> _**Futaba:** Who cares? You did it! |(^.^)/_
> 
> _**Makoto:** I care very much!_
> 
> _**Futaba:** Yeah yeah, whatever. I’ve fixed the cameras so you’re free to leave whenever you’re ready. We’ll crack open all the juicy details at my place tonight! o✧ं｡˚٩( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ٩)⋆｡˚*ْ✧ं_
> 
> _**Ren:** You were awesome, Mako. Great work, and thank you for doing this for me <3._
> 
> _**Makoto:** Both of you owe me._

Makoto pocketed her phone and leaned her head back to stare up at the ceiling. She hadn’t done anything that illegal since her Phantom Thief days. While she was certainly stressed, she felt something else.

_What is it that I’m feeling?_

Almost two minutes passed before she realized it.

_Exhilaration._

Makoto blinked. Exhilaration? Really? But why…?

She couldn’t pinpoint that right now - her heart rate was still through the roof. Perhaps it could be something else. She almost hoped it would be something else.

She held onto that hope as she left the bathroom, her head still spinning from the events that had transpired in the last 30 minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending notes have kinda become a place where I just speak my mind, which is kinda fun.
> 
> I just binged a fanfic on here called "Persona 5 Plus" and it's really good, check it out if you haven't yet! It's got some really cool ideas behind it, a couple of them even being something I considered. I guess that's a downside of writing fanfic for something that's been around for so long - a lot of concepts have already been explored.
> 
> P5R has still yet been awesome, but I did bump up the difficulty from hard to merciless. I'm a min-maxer for personas so I enjoy the extra challenge. Kaguya Picaro is my favorite, she looks so badass!
> 
> Anywho, I'll try to keep these blurbs as short as possible, but I do enjoy engaging and being open with my readers. Next chapter, we deal with the aftermath of the heist!


	6. A Queen's Inner Conflict

“ _And the winner is… Yoshi!_ ”

Futaba let out a loud groan at the result. “I don’t get it, how am I losing so much? I am a master at Smash, you hear me? A master, I tell you! And you are a trash mob!”

Ren chuckled. “You might be better at Super Bash Bros Melee, but I reign supreme in the newest game.”

The girl turned toward her brother and set a pout on her face. “This game is trash anyway. Melee is the true Super Bash Bros game - it has a higher skill cap and awesome tech that you can use to pwn the noobs with. There’s dash dancing, L canceling, more hitstu-”

Ren cut her off with a wave of his hand. “All I’m hearing are excuses. You’re even playing a top-tier character, too.”

“Yoshi is just as high tier as Inkling, you moron! That doesn’t matter!”

“But you know that I’m a Yoshi main in every game!” Ren gave an uncharacteristic huff. “The only other character I would play is if I was added to the game as Joker.”

Futaba seemed to suddenly forget about their argument. “Ohhhhh, now that’s a good idea! Our Metaverse selves with our personas would be totally kickass!”

Their conversation was interrupted as the front door to Futaba’s apartment swung open, to reveal a Makoto (still in uniform) holding a plastic bag of takeout food.

Ren noticed that this time, the handcuffs were nowhere to be found on her police belt.

“Seriously? At a time like this, you two are playing videogames?” Makoto set her hands on her hips. Looking around, she noticed that the apartment was missing another ‘person’. Or ‘cat’. It depends on how you look at it.

“By the way, where’s Morgana? And come to think of it, he wasn’t even around during our, well, activities…”

“Ah. Morgana wanted to be here but Haru mentioned that she was going to have lunch at a sushi buffet today and asked if he wanted to tag along. She promised him endless fatty tuna.”

Makoto narrowed her eyes. “He skipped out on this for fatty tuna?”

Ren continued. “Are you surprised? Oh, she’s going to bring him to our weekly meetup at Leblanc, by the way. We’ll pick him up then.”

Makoto ignored the information. “Yes, I am surprised! Why would he want to miss our heist?”

“He said he had faith in our abilities, and he could just rewatch all the footage on Futaba’s computer.”

Futaba crossed her arms. “Sheesh, Morgana loves endless fatty tuna more than being a Phantom Thief… I see it.” She shrugged.

Makoto simply sighed, and set the takeout bag on Futaba’s kitchen counter. “Well, I got us some takoyaki and gyoza for us to munch on while we digest this information. Shall we, if you two are finished playing games like a couple of kids?” A small smirk crossed her face as she said her little quip.

Ren cocked his head to the side a little as he stood up. “Takeout two nights in a row? That’s not like you, Makoto. If I did that, you’d be tossing it in the trash while telling me to watch what I eat.”

Makoto’s smirk grew into a wide grin, her voice elated. “Well, what can I say? I guess I’m in a pretty good mood after our successful heist!”

“Hmmmmm…” Futaba stood up slowly, staring at Makoto. The smaller girl crossed the living room without dropping her gaze, even as the distance between their faces closed to mere inches.

Makoto’s smile faltered slightly. “Uhh, Futaba?”

Suddenly, Futaba broke into a wide smile of her own and took a step back, pointing at her.

“HAH! I _knew_ it! You totally enjoyed the heist!”

The brunette’s face tinged to a slight shade of pink. “W-What? I don’t think-”

“Muehehehe, a cop likes doing illegal shit! What a total hypocrite!”

The pink on Makoto’s face deepened into a red. Sighing, Ren stepped forward to drag Futaba a few steps back.

“Alright, Futaba. That’s enough. As much as I like teasing Mako, it’s making her uncomfortable.” After calming Futaba down, Ren turned to face the other girl. “Although, since this appears to be true, I think an explanation is in order?”

Makoto’s eyes suddenly found the ground to be very interesting. Tens of silent seconds passed before she finally spoke up.

“It was… U-um… Exhilarating.”

Ren smirked and crossed his arms, a bit of his Joker personality shining through. “Oh? Exhilarating in what manner?” He said as Futaba peeked out from behind him, listening intensely.

Makoto took a deep breath, looking up to face the two of them. Well, may as well let it all out.

“Just… Everything, honestly. The thrill of doing something that society says you shouldn’t, even if what you’re doing is for a good cause. The tension in the air from the fact that I could’ve been caught, and had to keep my wits about me. The satisfaction with a completed job, knowing that I had performed the task I set out to do, and knowing that it will ultimately help people. The gratification of getting results so quickly. What I did today will probably be more than what I could’ve done in years otherwise.”

She paused, studying the other two’s faces. For once, they were silent, taking in her monologue. Ren slowly nodded his head, and she took it as a sign to continue.

“I could go on and on, but I think both of you know what I’m talking about, through our experience as Phantom Thieves. And honestly, that’s what I loved most; I felt like we were the Phantom Thieves again, fighting corruption from the shadows in the name of justice. We may all see each other weekly, but we haven’t done any sort of thievery in 6 years. I miss those days with all my heart. They were tough times, but they made us a family and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. So doing this again, and feeling like a Phantom Thief after a 6 year hiatus… It felt amazing.”

Her breathing quickened slightly, her chest moving up and down in somewhat shaky motions. Futaba opened her mouth, but closed it promptly as Makoto continued.

“But, this goes against everything I have been working for. I’ve spent the last 6 years working towards a goal. A lofty one, to be frank, but one that I believe I have the potential to achieve. And the reward would be the ability to enact true justice from the right side of the law. To make my sister proud, and show her that the younger generation has the power to change the world for the better without taking extreme measures. To let those who worry feel safe, knowing that something is being done about our country, and especially by somebody who isn’t being hunted by the police.”

Another deep breath, followed by a very shaky exhale. She had passed the point of no return now. The tears started to stream down her cheeks.

“And at this point I know I’m kind of rambling and I probably have the point across. But, I just feel confused. What should I do? Do I stick to my dream? Do I deny it and admit the fact that if the commissioner is indeed corrupt, I probably wouldn’t make it anyway? Do I take the darker path and do more right now? We could do so much more if we acted now. But what would we even do? How would we do it without the Metaverse? What would-”

She was cut off by the feeling of arms wrapping around her, and tightly at that. The familiar touch of her boyfriend sunk into her, and she lost it. Her stream of tears became angry sobs, and she wailed into Ren’s chest. The hands on her back rubbed up and down, while still maintaining a tight hold.

She felt a second pair of arms wrap around both her and Ren, then felt Futaba’s face bury itself between the gap in Ren and Makoto’s shoulders. The three held each other tightly until Makoto’s sobbing subsided.

The flash drive went untouched that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been writing more often, contrary to the fact that P5R is out. It's just easier to squeeze some paragraphs in between conference calls, not to mention the fact that I can't play the game with audio when I'm supposed to be listening to co-workers give their updates. Regardless, more chapters written means a more frequent upload schedule!
> 
> This one is honestly my favorite chapter so far. Makoto was really in her element when she was a Phantom Thief, and in my opinion, I think she would have a hard time giving it up. So now that she's got a taste of the thieving life again, what will she do? Turn back to a life of crime, or attempt to cleanse the justice system through lawful means?


	7. A Model's Love Life

“A little more to the left, perhaps…”

A pause.

“Now, if you could sit up a touch straighter, I would be very grateful… Ah, perfect! Please hold that pose!”

Yusuke Kitagawa held up a paintbrush between his face and his muse. He closed one eye, narrowing his focus, taking in the details. And just as quickly as he did so, he lowered the brush, dipped the tip into the paint on his tray, and set to painting.

Ann Takamaki sat on a stool in front of the artist prodigy, her slender body clad in a black and red yukata. White lily flowers dotted the design on occasion, but not enough to clash with the dark colors that dominated the clothing. Her blonde hair was down, flowing past her shoulders and to her back. Her hair was adorned with the yellow hair clip that she seemed to always wear. She was smiling, her blue eyes sparkling.

She had hardly changed physically in the past 6 years, but if you looked closely, you’d see that her figure was a bit more toned. An exercise regimen didn’t do a significant amount that her metabolism already did, but it made her feel better for it. It made her feel like she had earned it, and that confidence goes a long way when you’re a model.

Yusuke looked practically the same. You could hold a picture of him now and then next to each other, and not be able to tell which was which. Ann guessed that his diet - or lack of one - was to blame. How he could survive on the simplest of foods and bean sprouts, she’d never know.

“Thank you again for doing this for me, Yusuke. I really appreciate it!” She beamed, her bubbly, but not too obnoxious, personality shining through.

“There is no need to thank me, using art to express love is an admirable idea. I am just elated to have the opportunity of you as my muse. Although it is quite unfortunate that I will not be keeping this piece…” Yusuke replied, his eyes still laser-focused on his canvas.

Art to express love. It was something that Ann hadn’t initially considered, but she wanted her first anniversary gift for her relationship with Ryuji to be special. She had considered many different ideas, but none of them seemed too appealing to her. When consulting Yusuke about it, he proposed the idea of painting both her and Ryuji. While it was an enticing idea, it also ruined the surprise. So, she opted for the alternative - giving Ryuji something that he could hang in his apartment to remember her by when she wasn’t there.

Ann knew that it wasn’t the most common gift, and some people even expressed puzzlement at her idea when she bounced it off of others. However, she knew that Ryuji was extremely proud of how attractive his girlfriend was. Ann thought it was actually cute. It wasn’t in the way where she was objectified, but more of ‘How on earth did I land a girl this attractive?’ way of sorts. And you better believe the girl owned that feeling.

Ann blinked, bringing herself out of her thoughts. She slightly shifted her pose, correcting her back that had begun to droop a little. A look at Yusuke revealed he was still as lost in his art as ever, so to pass the time, Ann allowed her thoughts to resume.

Over the last 7 years, her love life had been quite rocky, to say the least. She and Shiho had always been close. When the two of them were first years, they described each other as best friends, but never more than that. The next year was the year she was a Phantom Thief. The year Shiho…

Ann shook her head to push it out of her mind, and continued with her thoughts. That year, she had fallen for somebody else. The delinquent transfer student who listened to her problems, who wouldn’t be deterred when she pushed him away, and who ultimately became a dear friend. She hoped it might have been more and to her surprise, she found herself indirectly confessing to Ren on the day the two of them plus Shiho visited the roof of Shujin.

Ren had declined her, but she found herself to be not too surprised with the result. She saw the way he would steal glances at Makoto. The way that their arms would sometimes brush together when piling into the Monabus in Mementos. Despite knowing this, and despite being turned down, Ann had felt refreshed. She still knew that Ren cared about her a lot, but less as a love interest and more as a friend. A friend who didn’t judge, a friend who wouldn’t abandon her, and a friend who would stand up for her. That was all she could ask.

The following year was rougher, with both Ren and Shiho gone. Both of them were a ways away, but they were just close enough to make the occasional weekend trip worth it. Ann visited them often, normally having sleepovers at Shiho's on the weekends, or whenever their schedule allowed it, to make the most of their time together. During one of these sleepovers, Shiho had kissed Ann on the cheek. And to Shiho’s surprise, Ann kissed back. On the lips.

It took Ann a while to realize that her affection for Ren had been spurred on by the speed at which he entered her life and befriended her. Once the smoke had cleared, however, Ann realized one thing - that she still cared about Shiho, more than she cared about anyone else.

A few years passed. A few very difficult years. Shiho, in pursuit of a professional volleyball career, was never in Japan. And Ann, while she travelled less, still had her own commitments to attend to as a model. After a stretch of 6 months where they didn’t see each other at all, the both of them decided that they might be better off with somebody else.

The breakup hurt Ann, but it was on good terms. The two of them were still close friends. In fact, Shiho helped Ann pick out her yukata she was currently wearing in front of Yusuke. The two of them did it over a video call while Ann fumbled around in the dressing room, but the two of them had fun doing it.

“...Hello? ...Ann?...”

“H-Huh?” Ann suddenly sat straight up, her cheeks turning red. Yusuke had been staring at her, his face slightly sour.

“I know it is not the most exciting event, but I implore you to at least sit up straighter than such a horrendous slouch. It taints my mind.”

“O-Oh, sorry…” Ann trailed off as she repositioned herself on her stool. She glanced past the artist to see that the sun’s rays were permeating through the closed blinds, signifying dusk.

Since she had a rare moment of the artist’s attention, she decided to utilize it. “Say, Yusuke, how is it going along?”

Yusuke nodded, a smile on his face. “Progress has been swell this afternoon; I have the first coat finished! Do not worry, for I will get it to you before the end of the deadline.”

“Oh, how exciting! I wanna see!” She said as she stood up, starting to walk over to the easel.

Yusuke immediately got up, throwing his arms out to block her path. “Absolutely not! You will see the results when it is finished, and no sooner.”

Ann narrowed her eyes, then decided to relent. She leaned back and allowed a sigh to escape her lips. When Yusuke got like this, everyone knew that he wouldn’t back down. “Fiiiine. Well, since we seem to be at a good stopping point, I’m going to get changed, then head back home. You wanna walk with me to the station?”

“Very well. I suppose with this finished for the day, now would be a good time as any to return to my dwelling.”

Ann nodded as she exited the room to a hallway, before turning into a bathroom to change. As she did so, she thought back to the time Yusuke had been offered the art studio he now used. An art patron had taken a liking to some of his paintings that he managed to have hung in an exhibit in a small art museum, and offered to set the artist up with an entire studio, just for himself. Yusuke initially wasn’t thrilled with the idea of having to live somewhere else than where he created his art, but the number of benefits of having an entire studio to yourself outshone the negatives.

Ann exited the bathroom to find Yusuke already in the hallway, his bag over his shoulder. “Shall we depart?”

“Yup!”

The two of them left the studio and headed for the nearest station. They walked in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, mostly just taking in the scenery around them. Awkward silences were a thing of the past when it came to people that had basically become your family.

However, Yusuke had other plans. “Ann, I don’t believe that you have ever personally told me why you and Ryuji began dating.”

Ann faltered, stopping in her tracks for a second, before running to catch up with Yusuke. “I haven’t? I guess I don’t talk about it much, huh?”

The blue-haired boy shook his head. “You do not. Which is understandable, I suppose. He can be quite embarrassing at times.”

She blinked, and her tone rose. “Don’t talk about him like that! Sure, he may not be elegant, or suave, or charming, or charismatic, or super smart, and he says the wrong thing at the wrong time a lot…”

She coughed.

“Well, he’s not a lot of things. But there’s a lot of things that he is. If you peel back his outer layers, he is the softest guy I know. He’s caring, considerate, compassionate, and he has a fierce sense of companionship. Do you remember when he jumped into the road, risking his life, to halt a taxi when we were chasing Kanashiro? And in Shido’s palace, too. How could any of us forget his mad dash to the lifeboat, which ultimately almost killed him? He puts others before himself, even to dangerous lengths of doing so.”

Ann sighed, a smile crossing her face. “Ryuji and I got along well, but we did have our arguments. But he stayed my friend, through and through, as the years went on. And when I dealt with breaking up with Shiho, he was there for me. I hadn’t even considered him until at least a year after Shiho and I broke up. One time I even joked with him that he was using the breakup as a way to get close to me. And you know what he said?”

She turned to Yusuke, who was staring at her. “Did he say ‘yes’?”

Her brow furrowed and she slapped Yusuke on the arm. “He did not say yes, you moron! He said ‘I wasn’t even thinking about that. You’re my best friend, aside from Ren. I gotta look out for you, y’know?’”

She gulped, a single tear forming in her eye. “And at that point, I realized how much he cared about me, even if it was just as a friend. It took me so long to realize it - I was a total idiot. He and I became very close over the next year, and one day, he just asked me out. I said yes, and the rest is history.”

“I see… That is quite surprising. I did not expect Ryuji would be capable of such emotional understanding.”

The only thing Ann could do was hold her head in one of her hands, and restrain herself from slapping the oblivious boy any further.

\----------

Ten minutes later found the two of them waving good-bye to each other as they headed to their respective trains they needed to catch. It was just after rush hour, meaning Ann was lucky enough to get a seat on the train. Taking this opportunity, she pulled out her phone and started a group conversation with everyone.

> _**Ann:** Is everyone ready for the meetup tomorrow?_
> 
> _**Ryuji:** You know it!_
> 
> _**Haru:** I am very much looking forward to it as well!_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** I have to meet with my patron just before our normal time, so I may be slightly late to our gathering._
> 
> _**Futaba:** Geez Inari, letting us down yet again. (￢ ╭╮￢ )_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** I have done no such thing, wouldn’t I have to pick everyone up first in order to let you all down?_
> 
> _**Makoto:** Give him a break, Futaba. That’s fine, Yusuke, as long as we’re all together._
> 
> _**Futaba:** Oh oh oh! That’s right! We have some important news for everyone! (づ◔ ͜ʖ◔)づ_
> 
> _**Haru:** Oh? What sort of news? Hopefully it is better than the dreadful news from Ren’s election on Monday._
> 
> _**Ren:** Actually, it’s about that._
> 
> _**Ann:** Ohmygosh, are you about to imply what I think you are?_
> 
> _**Ren:** Maybe. We haven’t checked the data yet._
> 
> _**Ryuji:** Screw that rigged BS. How are you feeling from all this Ren? You holdin’ up ok?_
> 
> _**Ren:** More or less, I guess. I appreciate your concern, though._
> 
> _**Ann:** See Yusuke? He’s so compassionate it’s dreamy!_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** I am still not completely convinced._
> 
> _**Ryuji:** Why are you two talking about me being compassionate? You’re gonna ruin my image!_
> 
> _**Ann:** One day, I’ll convince you!_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** That day is likely a long way off._
> 
> _**Ryuji:** Uh, hello? I’m right here, you two!_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** I am aware, unfortunately._
> 
> _**Haru:** :O_
> 
> _**Makoto:** Wow._
> 
> _**Ren:** Got ‘em._
> 
> _**Ann:** Don’t talk about Ryuji like that!_
> 
> _**Futaba:** Fight fight fight! Kiss kiss kiss!_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** There will be no kissing._
> 
> _**Futaba:** But what about fighting, Inari? (ง•ᴥ•)ง_
> 
> _**Ryuji:** Damn Yusuke, is that any way to treat a friend?_
> 
> _**Futaba:** What sort of friends don’t insult each other? Friends that don’t do that aren’t friends at all!_
> 
> _**Ren:** Futaba does have a point. Isn’t that right, miss Beep Boop?_
> 
> _**Makoto:** Ren, you are sleeping on the couch tonight._
> 
> _**Ren:** I have no regrets._
> 
> _**Yusuke:** Yes, Ryuji, I am merely participating in what they call “brotherly love.”_
> 
> _**Ann:** I’m about to hop off the train so I’ll text everyone later. I gotta keep my wits about me when walking at night. See everyone tomorrow!_

Ann pocketed her phone before waiting for a reply, but she could already feel it buzzing in her pocket.

Despite walking alone at night was something she often did, Ann could never shake the unease it gave her. Being a model meant that her looks often attracted unwanted attention, and the nighttime only made it worse.

She wished she still had her trusty whip with her.

_Makoto did mention she would do self-defense lessons with me… Maybe I should take her up on that._

Ann’s thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly saw shoes in front of her on the ground. She barely had time to stop before she was collided into, looking up to see an older man holding his hands up, his phone in one hand. Well, so much for keeping her wits about her.

“Oh, I’m sorry, please excuse me!” Ann said quickly as she moved to sidestep the man.

He sidestepped along with her, very evidently in an attempt to block her progress.

Ann blinked, taking a step back while looking up and down to get a better look at the man. He was largely uninteresting, except she spotted a few tattoos under his tank top. She had no idea if any of them meant anything, but she was pretty sure they weren’t just bad decisions made after a few too many drinks.

She tried a couple more times to get around the man, but he blocked her every move. Her eyes went wide as she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. She wanted to turn her head, let alone her body, but the thump thump thump of the feet behind her kept her rooted to the ground.

_Why the heck can’t I move? Am I that scared? I-I’ve seen scarier!_

Taking a deep breath, Ann did her best to steel her nerves, and bluntly asked the man in front of her, “Can I help you?”

He smirked, and opened his mouth for a reply before he was interrupted by another feminine voice.

“Excuse my interruption, but is something going on here?”

Ann nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned her head. That voice!

Makoto Niijima stood there, her patrol car behind her, hands on her hips. She wore her death Niijima glare, and for a millisecond Ann felt sorry for the man who had to endure it. Only for a millisecond, though.

The man shook his head. “No, officer. I just accidentally bumped into this lady here. Please excuse me.” And with that, he moved past Ann, moving down the street. The other set of footsteps passed Ann finally, and while the other figure was wearing a leather jacket, she caught what looked like part of a similar tattoo on the back of his neck.

Once he disappeared around a corner, Ann let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Her adrenaline fading, she tumbled backwards, managing to grab onto a nearby streetlight to keep herself upright.

“Woah there, are you ok, Ann? Did they do something to you?” Makoto was immediately by her side, a hand on Ann’s arm.

“I-I’m ok, I just… need to calm down a bit…” Ann mumbled.

“Here, let me take you to my police car.”

Makoto guided Ann to the safety of the police car, and once the two of them were inside with the doors locked, the officer reached over to give her friend a tight hug.

They were quiet for a few minutes.

The first one to break the silence was the blonde.

“I… I think I’ll take you up on those self-defense lessons.”

Makoto pulled away, nodding. “I think you should, too. Here, let me drive you home.”

“Thanks.”

They were mostly quiet on the drive home. Ann could tell that Makoto wanted to speak up, but the blonde was still breathing semi-heavily.

_I was almost kidnapped. Or worse, maybe sold off…_

Ann knew the days Makoto worked. This was towards the end of her shift, so she was probably heading back to the precinct. It was pure chance that the officer saw Ann’s dilemma. If she hadn’t noticed what was going on…

Ann shivered and shook her head. She didn’t want to think about it.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

Wait, what? Why on earth was Makoto apologizing? “F-For what? You just saved me. If anything, I should be apologizing for getting into that mess.”

Makoto bit her lower lip, a frown on her face. “You know how much of a chance encounter that was, to have me pass by at the right time. That was luck. I’m sorry that something like that still happens. That bad people are confident enough to walk on the street and do something like that out in the open.”

“Makoto, it’s fine. It’s impossible to catch every criminal in Tokyo, you know. And you do such a good job alr-”

“But it’s not good enough!”

Ann recoiled from Makoto’s sudden outburst.

“It’s never enough! No matter what I do in the police force, there will always be more criminals or more people taking advantage of others or more corruption in the police and political world and what can a single cop like me do? I can’t do anything!” Her voice lowered. “Criminals were more scared of the Phantom Thieves than the entire Tokyo police force. What I do now is nothing compared to back then…”

“Makoto…” Was all Ann could say, a frown adorned on her face.

Frankly, this outburst was the last thing Ann had expected. Makoto had always been so sure of her goal, so why would she question what she does now? Did something happen that caused her to think differently?

_But Makoto is so goal-driven, for something to shake her this much it must have something to do with..._

“This… this is about Ren, isn’t it? And the election?”

Makoto was silent, her eyes on the road. Ann thought she could see hints of tears forming in the edges of the officer’s eyes. The moment was cut short once Ann felt the car stop, and she looked out the window to notice that they had made it to her apartment - a big townhouse, with each floor being its own flat. Ann’s was the top floor.

“Do you want me to walk you to your room?” Was all Makoto said. The blonde guessed that she wouldn’t be learning anything from her tonight.

“No, it’s fine. You need to have a key to get through the front door anyways, so you can just wait for me to unlock it.”

Makoto nodded. “Have a good night, Ann. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Ann took one last look at Makoto. Her face was full of stress, revealing to Ann just how much the topic of Makoto’s outburst had been haunting over her. She knew that Makoto knew her well enough to notice her look - the two of them hung out weekly for 6 years. And that wasn’t including all the relationship building from the numerous near-death experiences they shared.

Ann decided to go out on a limb and test the waters.

“Makoto, if you want to talk to me abo-”

“Tomorrow, Ann.”

Makoto’s voice was laced with pain and confusion. Ann felt her heart tug inside her chest.

There was a period of silence, followed by Ann opening the passenger door of the police car.

“Tomorrow, Makoto.”

Ann was frustrated. Not because Makoto didn’t tell her anything, but because Ann hated this rigged, corrupt world, and what it did to her family.

The door slammed shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little backstory heavy here, but it's necessary stuff. Originally I actually was going to put Ann and Shiho together, but a last minute decision made me switch to Ryuji. I really don't want to sideline who I think is already a criminally sidelined character though, so there are plans to make Shiho more relevant! But in my opinion, I see Shiho and Ann as those ultra inseparable friends who are too close to be romantically involved, if that makes sense.


	8. Coffee, Curry, and Conspiracies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been writing a decent amount and have gotten ahead of my intended schedule, so I figured I'd be nice and do a back to back upload!

“What do you mean? You clearly just don’t understand my genius! It’s efficient!”

“You can say that all you like Futaba, but eating 5 packets of ramen for breakfast as an only meal is probably as bad as a diet gets. That wouldn’t be worth the time saved making other food.”

Futaba pouted as Makoto responded in her normal sensible manner.

Makoto, Futaba, and Ren had just stepped off the train at Yongen-Jaya station, on the way to Leblanc for their weekly hangout. Ren smiled to himself as the two bickered, taking in the familiar sights, the familiar sounds of people he knew, and the familiar feeling of Makoto’s hand in his. Coming to Yongen always seemed to calm his nerves.

Despite meeting up weekly for the past 6 years, the Phantom Thieves never got bored of talking about each other’s week, filling each other in on the latest news in their respective jobs, and the like. It had become a tradition. A staple in Ren’s life. Something that he could always look forward to. The thieves often did do other things during the week if time permitted, but Sunday was normally the one day that all of them, Sojiro included, could reconnect.

The familiar awning that hung over the door widened Ren’s smile upon seeing it. A few seconds later, he held the door open for his girlfriend and sister to step inside.

As he rounded the door, closing it behind him, the first thing he heard was Makoto squealing happily.

“Sis!”

Ren snapped his head to see Niijima Sae sitting at the counter, a cup of coffee in her hands, talking to a patron next to her. The other’s face was obscured so Ren couldn’t see who it was, but he thought he could pick out a white coat behind the defense attorney.

Sae turned her head to see the three newcomers. “Ah, hello Makoto. And hello Ren-kun, Futaba-chan. How are you three today?” A warm smile spread across Sae’s face as she posed her question.

Ren could hear the other two answering her question, but instead he fell into silence. Ever since the night Sae interrogated Ren, back when they were still Phantom Thieves, the former prosecutor had slowly begun to return to her former self that Makoto once described as loving and soft, yet professional and driven. The process took awhile (and in Ren’s opinion, was still in progress), but Sae had come a long way. She only threatened Ren rarely anymore. Ren knew she even liked him now, but she didn’t like admitting it.

Ren bit the inside of his cheek. Things hadn’t been smooth, but they had gone well enough. It took years for Sae to finally give the couple their blessing. Sometimes, he wished they had stolen her treasure to make the process easier. But Ren also preferred being alive, and they needed Sae’s palace to remain intact, so he let it slide.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Ren brought himself back to reality to notice all the eyes on him. He reached up to scratch the back of his neck, laughing softly.

“Ah, sorry, I got completely lost in thought. Did somebody ask me something?”

“I did.” Ren recognized that voice and set his eyes on Dr. Tae Takemi, who had been occupying the other seat next to Sae. She had leaned back to look at him, her longer hair reaching just above her shoulder blades, with one eye partially covered by her bangs. Ren liked her new style - it seemed to suit her quite well.

“Hey there, Tae. Sorry I spaced out, what did you ask?”

“How are you holding up after Monday?”

Ren shrugged. “It was rough for several days, but right now I’m doing better.” He wished he could fill Tae in more about his hijinks, but that was too risky.

Tae gave one of her sly smiles. “Of course. I didn’t think my guinea pig would be held back for long. Just don’t do anything that would make you end up in my office for something that isn’t a well check.”

She knew him too well. The hand behind his neck moved up to scratch the back of his head. He hesitated for a second.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

Tae stood up, rolling her shoulders to adjust her lab coat.

“You’re not a great liar. Anyways, I have a patient in a few minutes. Thanks for the coffee. See you later, Sae.” She called out as she moved past Ren, walking out the door. Ren noticed Tae was smiling at the other woman as she left.

“See you later, Tae.” Sae returned the smile.

Over the years, Tae and Sae had actually become friends. Ren didn’t think Sae had it in her to spend time with others that weren’t family (outside of the occasional time she spent with the Phantom Thieves), but Makoto had told him that Tae played a big part in helping her sister get her private practice off the ground. Tae held experience as a private practitioner, so Sae found her advice to be valuable. Surprisingly, Sae actually decided to keep in contact with the doctor, even after her defense attorney business was well up and running.

Makoto later revealed that it was her doing - Sae needed more people her age she could easily relate with and talk to in her life. Makoto made it happen, and Ren didn’t disagree.

“SOJIRO, I HUNGER!”

The sudden shouting made everybody in the cafe jump visibly. “Give me curry!” Futaba cried out, making her way along the counter to sit at her normal spot at the bar - the chair furthest from the door. Before she sat, she placed her laptop bag onto the booth behind her.

Sojiro, who had been quietly stirring a pot of curry, didn’t even look up from his task. “You could at least act your age, Futaba.” Setting down his stirring spoon, he finally looked up at the newcomers, smoothing out his ever-so-slightly gray hair.

“Hey, kids. Take a seat. The usual?” Upon seeing the three of them nod, he began to whip up their beverages.

“What brings you three in here so early? Normally it’s at least another hour until you show up.”

Makoto glanced at her sister. “Yes, well… We came early to see sis, actually. Since she normally is here Sunday mornings.”

Sae looked up from her coffee and returned the gaze to her younger sister. “Oh? Why didn’t you just contact me instead?”

“We needed to see you in person, along with everyone else. There’s… something that we need to discuss with everyone, and we need you to be there for it.” Makoto replied, nodding in thanks to Sojiro as he slid her coffee across the counter.

“I see. What is it?” asked Sae in her professional tone.

“It has to do with Ren’s election. We’ll explain more once everybody else gets here, but I wanted to get here early enough to see you before you headed back to work. Is it possible for you to stay here, or do you have something going on today?” Makoto crossed her fingers, hoping for a yes.

Sae glanced at her watch. “I suppose one of the benefits of owning a private practice is that you can set your own hours. I can make time.” Her professional voice remained, but she shared a small smile with Makoto.

“Great! Thanks sis!” Makoto exclaimed before taking a sip of coffee. Her face darkened slightly. “But, u-um… I don’t think you’ll like what we have to say.”

Ren suddenly froze, his eyes staring wide into his cup of coffee. To his left, he heard Futaba snicker and whisper “good luck” so only he could hear. He did hear Sae say something back to Makoto, but he didn’t know what. He was too busy panicking internally.

_Oh God, we’re going to have to tell Sae-san about the heist. About how I put Makoto’s career in jeopardy._

He didn’t even react as a plate of curry was put in front of him and Futaba to share, which earned excited yelps from the girl.

It was going to be a long meeting.

Fortunately for Ren, the sound of the chimes signaling somebody entering the hole in the wall was a perfectly conveniently timed distraction. Looking over, he noticed Ann standing in the doorway, giving a friendly wave to the group.

“Hey everyone! Hey Boss! Oh, and hello Sae-san!”

“Ann! You’re early!” Ren immediately stood up, happy to have something else in the room command attention. Ann walked up to the boy and wrapped her arms around him. They hugged for a short second, then Ann did the same to Futaba, followed by Makoto. Everybody said there hellos back to the model as she made the rounds.

Slipping into a bar chair between Ren and Makoto, Ann gave her reasoning for her early arrival. “Yeah, well, I had a photoshoot early this morning and Yongen was between there and home so I thought I may as well drop by early!”

The rest of them started talking about Ann’s modeling gig while Ren started to pick at his curry plate. If he didn’t, Futaba was going to eat it all. He started to calm his nerves once he heard Sae join in their conversation, seeming to have dropped the prior topic. For now, at least.

“Ann, you are my savior…” Ren muttered so quietly, he wasn’t even sure if he said it aloud.

\----------

Fortunately for Ren, the next hour was pretty tame. He and Futaba slid into a booth to look at memes on her laptop while Makoto and Sae talked to each other at the bar. Ann initially sat with the two sisters, but it wasn’t long until Ren noticed the blonde drag Makoto to the side and the two talked in hushed tones, out of earshot.

Makoto did tell Ren that she ran into Ann last night, but didn’t say anything more. He assumed that something may have happened that Makoto didn’t let him in on, but he didn’t pry. He would surely be told if something serious had happened, because then he’d be ready to help.

Which, unknown to Ren, was exactly why he wasn’t kept in the know. The last thing the two girls wanted was for him to go on an unlawful criminal hunting spree.

Their conversation seemingly over, Ann moved to the booth Ren and Futaba sat in. She idled on her phone, occasionally snickering when the two siblings would show her a particularly funny meme. _At least she seems ok, for the most part… Maybe it was just girl talk._

Sojiro had left to buy ingredients. He also had flipped the sign to closed on the way out, to ensure there were no intrusions on the gathering. Despite doing this every Sunday, the older man had declined any sort of payment until Haru gave him _that_ stare. She insisted to at least rent the cafe out each time they gathered so he wouldn’t lose out on income. Sojiro ultimately learned to allow it - he was getting roughly triple what he would normally make in that time, anyway.

One by one, the ex-Phantom Thieves entered the cozy hole in the wall. Haru entered first, a happy Morgana perched on one of her shoulders. The girl had grown taller in the past 6 years, although she still carried many of her signature traits and clothing style. Ren was convinced her hair was frozen in time - he had never seen it look any shorter or longer in all the time they knew each other. Her maturity had indeed grown, though, and she carried herself with a much more proper, confident stature. Well, she was the symbolic CEO of Okumura Foods, after all.

While Haru did have a lot of sway with manners within the company, the girl also moved many responsibilities to other executives that she had known and trusted for years. During that time, she had gone to college, obtained degrees in both economics and business, and was working on perfecting her own culinary art in hopes of revisiting her grandfather’s small-time cafe business. If it was made into a smaller chain, then that would be even better.

Ryuji arrived shortly after the heiress. He sported a plain red t-shirt and cargo shorts, as simple a dresser as he’d always been. He always said that he would leave the fancy dressing to the model, anyway. He did make up for it in muscles, however. The former track star had turned into a pro athlete who ran for a living, which wasn’t the most lucrative source of income for him, but he loved what he was doing nonetheless.

If you were a Phantom Thief, though, he would always tell you that his most exciting run was to the lifeboat on Shido’s sinking palace. It’s pretty hard to top a sprint to save your friends (and future girlfriend) while explosions made for quite the backdrop.

With everybody (save Yusuke) present, the Phantom Thieves gathered around a single booth to chat. With Sojiro still out getting groceries, Ren vacated the booth to slip behind the counter. It was time to start up some coffee for the group.

He was beginning the first roast when he looked up to see Sae staring directly at him. Her eyes were narrowed, and she was rolling her fingertips on the counter.

Ren gulped. _Well, today is as good a day as any to die._

“Ren-kun, Makoto told me something very interesting just a little while ago…” Her tone was like steel, only dwarfed by the daggers she threw from the trademark Niijima glare.

Ren gulped again, his eyes trying to look anywhere but at the woman in front of him. “O-Oh? What sort of thing?” He feigned innocence, mostly just to avoid her eyes beaming into him. A Niijma glare from Sae was much scarier than seeing Mementos fused with Shibuya.

“Oh, nothing too big, just the fact that you convinced my sister to risk her career on a hunch that you had that might not even be true?” Her voice was low, but Ren found it to be more intimidating than her shouting.

There was a long pause between the two, the sounds of Leblanc filling the silence.

Eventually, he spoke up. “I-In my defense, Makoto wan-”

The door to Leblanc swung open, and both snapped their head to the front of the store.

Standing in the doorway, his head hung low with his eyes glued to the floor, was Yusuke. He silently slipped into the first bar chair nearest to the door, eyes remaining downcast.

Ren and Sae shared a glance at each other, and Sae took the chance to give him a glare that seemed to read _“We’ll finish this later.”_

The boy nodded reluctantly and moved down the length of the bar to position himself in front of Yusuke.

“Hey, Yusuke. Are you doing ok?”

Yusuke didn’t respond, which caused the ex-thieves to exchange glances. Yusuke was almost never like this. All of them got up to crowd around the blue-haired boy, waiting for a response.

It took a minute, but Yusuke finally looked up when Ren slid him a cup of his favorite brew. Nodding his head in thanks, he took a sip while looking at Sayuri, still situated on the wall where he had initially left it.

He then turned his attention towards his peers, who all looked at him with worried eyes.

“...Is something the matter?” The boy asked, totally oblivious to the situation occurring around him.

“Uhh… Yeah... Are you doin’ ok, man?” Ryuji sighed, scratching the back of his head.

Yusuke put a hand to his chin, and looked down to the coffee cup. “Well, I suppose I have been better. In my meeting with my patron today, he has declared to me that he will cease support and is evicting me from my studio at once.”

The entire cafe stared at him in shocked silence.

“...Wait, ain’t that bad?!”

Ryuji yelped when Ann smacked him upside the head, with perhaps too much force behind it. “Of course it is, you idiot! Do you have any social awareness in that head of yours?”

“Geez, sorry…” Ryuji muttered softly. Which was soon followed by “Sometimes I’m not even sure why you love me…” in a much softer tone.

Ann heard him, however, and immediately pinched his cheek lovingly. “Let’s just say you’re a work in progress, shall we?”

“H-Hey!”

Ignoring him, Ann turned to Yusuke. “So, Yusuke… What exactly happened? Weren’t you and your patron on really good terms?”

The artist nodded. “Indeed. My patron, Yako Umari, is a very kind man. Or, perhaps was is a more fitting word. Yesterday, he asked me to meet with him for an urgent matter. I obliged.

“During my meeting with him, however, he was almost a different person. He demanded that I drop my current project” Yusuke stole a quick glance at Ann, “And pursue something else that is more… lucrative.”

“So, he is asking for you to paint something to make him money? Doesn’t he already have a lot of money to begin with?” Haru pondered while idly petting Morgana, who lay in her lap.

“Indeed. But as he is my patron, he does obtain a portion of the funds I acquire upon selling a piece. Strangely, in my years of knowing him, he has never once asked for money. In fact, a week ago, he was elated with my current project. Which, I shall point out, is being made especially for personal reasons and I have no intention of selling it publicly.”

Morgana stood up from Haru’s lap, stretched briefly, and jumped up onto the booth table. “So, you’re saying that within a week, your art patron went from somebody who urged on your passion to art to somebody who became obsessed with you making art for a profit?”

“Yes, it seems so.” Yusuke wrapped his hands around his coffee and stared at the cat.

Everyone was silent for a while, until Sae, who most had forgotten was even there, spoke up. “I’m not sure what Morgana said, but it sounds like your patron changed his personality almost overnight, correct? I wonder...”

Yusuke nodded. “Morgana did say that, yes. Why, do you have something in mind?”

All eyes turned to Sae, who slightly recoiled. “U-Um, do none of you notice the obvious? At least, I think it’s obvious…”

She was met with silence, which caused her to sigh. “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re the same people who outsmarted Shido and Akechi.” She cleared her throat. “Doesn’t this sound like one of your change of hearts, but in reverse?”

Silence again. Although this time, Sae noticed every single Phantom Thief had gone wide-eyed.

“That… That theoretically makes sense…” Makoto stammered out, putting two fingers to her temple. “But, it should also be impossible.” She turned to look at Morgana. “Do you have any input on this?”

The cat sat on his hind legs, his tail drumming the table. “The Metaverse doesn’t exist anymore. And even if it did, it’s also impossible to force a reverse change of heart. The Metaverse only contains distorted desires, and I think it’s safe to assume that your art patron didn’t have any of the sort originally, Yusuke?”

He shook his head. “None that I am aware of. And after Madarame, I made sure to exercise extreme caution with those I surround myself with in the art world. He is- was, a person who truly valued art.”

“Can somebody please tell me what the cat said? It’s really hard to follow this when you can’t understand half the conversation.” Sae leaned back in her chair, folding her arms.

“Oh, yeah. The kitty says it’s impossible on top of impossible. So like, super impossible. Doubly impossible.” Futaba deadpanned while reaching out to tug Morgana’s ear, which the feline did not appreciate.

The defense attorney shook her head. “After I found out the truth of the Metaverse 6 years ago, I refuse to believe anything is impossible. So, entertain me. Let’s say that the Metaverse still exists, and yet again is being exploited by someone with malicious intent. How would we theoretically stop it?”

“Well… By being the Phantom Thieves, I guess.” Ren said nonchalantly. “We’d find out how to get to the Metaverse, then investigate there. Figure out how one could possibly cause a reverse change of heart in a world where hearts can only be changed for the better.”

“Didn’t you say that killing the, what was it… The shadow, I believe, of a person would instigate the psychotic breakdowns? Perhaps it is related?” Sae offered to the group. She was just grasping at straws - the real knowledge lay within the young adults in front of her.

“It shouldn’t work like that, but I suppose we can’t rule out that possibility anymore. Plus, Akechi was the only person who could induce psychotic breakdowns. The mental shutdowns are when a shadow is killed. But this is all assuming the Metaverse still exists in the first place! It clearly doesn’t, otherwise everyone would still have the MetaNav app!”

A deep sigh came out of Sae, her hands on her temples. “Can we just... get this cat a text to speech app on a phone? It’s really hard to have a conversation when the other is meowing back at you.”

Morgana lowered his head, which caused Sae’s expression to soften. “My apologies. I was out of line there. I suppose this whole situation frustrates me.” She paused. “But can somebody please translate?”

“He said that if the Metaverse still existed, we would be able to go there via our MetaNav app on our phones. However, it vanished when Ren killed Yaldabaoth.” Makoto explained.

Sae shook her head. “But that doesn’t mean anything. Akechi was able to access the Metaverse years before it appeared on your phone, yes? Wouldn’t that mean there’s a possibility there are multiple ways to enter the Metaverse?”

“The only method we know of is the MetaNav. As for Akechi, he was a special case. He was granted the app by the malevolent god I killed, years before it was gifted to me.”

Makoto giggled lightly at Ren’s statement. The way he mentioned killing a god like it was another Tuesday made her smile. And blush. And made her a little… excited. God, her boyfriend is the best.

“Oh, Mom’s research!” Futaba shot up from her seat, causing everybody to jump in surprise.

“Mom’s research may have the method to access the Metaverse!”

“Wait, hold up a sec.” Ryuji scratched the back of his head. “So are we just assumin’ the Metaverse still exists now?”

“To put it frankly, yes.” Sae answered, her brow furrowed. “Unless anybody else has a better explanation for how the patron’s attitude towards art changed so suddenly, with no prior history of such?”

As Sae’s eyes scanned the room, every ex-thief lowered their own (except Makoto). Sae was too scary to meet with, eye to eye.

“Geez, she’s like Makoto in the Metaverse, but so much scarier…” Morgana meowed, thankful he could get away with saying something so bold. He was, however, flicked on the head by the younger Niijima.

Sae’s eyes narrowed. “What did he say?”

“U-Uh, nothing too serious. Don’t worry about it.” Makoto replied, then flashed a glare to the cat.

Ren bit the inside of his lip, but luckily Sojiro spoke up to diffuse the situation. “Look, I don’t really know nor understand what you kids are talking about, but maybe you should listen to Futaba and try to find Wakaba’s missing research? It sounds like it would be a good start.”

“If it still exists…” Futaba’s face was initially downcast. She soon looked up, her expression brightening. “Buuuut, we do have thiiiiis!”

She took out a usb - the one Makoto used in the commissioner’s office - and waved it around in the air.

Before she could plug it into her laptop, Ren snatched it from her hands and stood up from the booth. He arranged himself so he could see everybody in the cafe at the same time, and spoke while holding the drive in front of him.

“Once this flash drive is in Futaba’s computer, there’s no going back. Yes, we shouldn’t have the data, and yes, what we did was illegal. But Makoto, Morgana, Futaba and I think that there’s something very fishy going on here. And with Yusuke’s recent turn of events, I’m starting to wonder if this is all connected somehow.”

“Illegally collected data? I can’t beli-”

“Sis, please just let this go. There’s much more at stake here.”

Makoto’s tone was firm. Sae sighed, but relented.

Ren took it as a sign to continue. “And since the two of us are ex-Phantom Thieves, and how the Metaverse is potentially involved, all of us may be targets. That includes you as well, Sae-san, given how you helped me escape from the interrogation room.”

Sae nodded. That much, she understood.

“Fortunately Sojiro didn’t know about us until so late in the year that he could plausibly deny any involvement with the Phantom Thieves. But, I fear for the rest of us. And if our predictions are correct, then I feel like we’re going to have an Akechi 2.0 situation on our hands. That puts the public in danger.”

Upon hearing Akechi’s name, the room fell silent. It was still a bit of a sore subject, even after all these years.

Ryuji broke the silence with a wave of his hand. “Yeah, and you wanna save people. I know where you’re getting at. And I’ve got only one answer. I’m in. I’m with ya until the ends of the Earth, Ren!”

Ann pumped her fist, standing next to her boyfriend. “We can’t just let this happen without doing anything about it! We gotta uphold our Phantom Thief code and help those in need!”

Ren smiled, and turned to look down as he felt Futaba tug on his shirt from her seat. “I’m with you, big bro. We’re gonna beat that final boss, just you wait! There’ll probs be some sweet loot along the way, too. Plus, it’s so boooooring having to stick to strictly legal stuff. Let’s cause some mayhem!”

Haru spoke up next, smiling innocently. “How could I say no to the opportunity to make our enemies beg for their lives? Allow me to be the funds behind our new operation, too. Money spent in the name of justice is money well spent!”

“Uhh, Haru, these people ain’t shadows. No killing allowed.” Ryuji shifted his weight uncomfortably.

“Aww…” The ball of floof sighed and dropped her gaze. “But I am still going to partake in this. I must!”

“Of course you may, we wouldn’t have it any other way.” Makoto set a hand on Haru’s shoulder, rubbing it softly. She then looked up at Ren. “You know I will go to hell and back for you, Ren. I am on your side, forever and always.”

Ren stifled a sob. He normally wasn’t one to get sappy, but there’s been a lot of emotions this past week. He could at least revel in the positive ones, for once.

“There is beauty in being a thief. I look forward to the artistic inspiration that will surely come forth in our investigation!” Yusuke spread his arms wide, almost hitting Ryuji in the forehead.

“Watch it, dude! Where do you even think we’re going, anyway? There ain’t palaces anymore!”

Ren chuckled as he felt something brush against his arm. Morgana had hopped onto the structure between the two booths and nuzzled him. “Wherever you go, I go. Besides, all of you will be lost without a master thief guiding everyone!”

“Pfft, the only thing you’re a master of is eating fatty tuna.” Ryuji quipped, trying to hold in a snicker.

“What was that, punk? You wanna go?”

“Bring it, cat!”

Ren would have had to step in (as usual) were it not for Sae loudly clearing her throat, asking for the attention of the entire room. She easily received it.

“Are you aware of the situation you are putting yourselves into? This isn’t the Metaverse. There are laws and rules, and you won’t be able to conveniently hide your tracks in another world like you did before. You shou-”

Sae was cut short when Makoto suddenly slid out of her booth, taking a short step to stand directly in front of her sister.

“Sis, we _have_ to get to the bottom of this. You don’t have to help us. We just ask that you don’t report us.”

“So have you already made your decision to give up on the police force, and your dream of becoming a commissioner?” Sae’s tone didn’t falter - she was evidently challenging her sister.

Makoto’s eyes fell to the ground. “I… I recognize that something needs to be done, and the method of doing it may not be lawful.” She looked up, crimson eyes staring into crimson eyes. “But I’m not quitting my job. And I would prefer not to. I can’t resort to being a criminal my whole life, even if it’s for a good cause.”

Sae was silent, recognizing the conflict in Makoto’s voice. It was a voice that said ‘We’re being backed into a corner and running out of options.’ It told the former prosecutor that she wasn’t just doing this strictly for the fun of it, or because Ren wanted her to. She still had her own dream to shoot for, however clouded that vision might currently be. Sae really hoped that Makoto would stick with it.

In short, it had told Sae enough.

She stood up, looking down on Makoto silently before brushing her aside to walk up to Ren, her glare held firm. It took everything in the boy’s power not to take a step back and drop his gaze.

After what seemed like an eternity to Ren (which was only really a few seconds), Sae sighed and softened her stance. “6 years ago, Ren-kun, in that interrogation room, you told me that justice is about sticking to the right path. To fight for what’s right.” Turning around, her eyes roamed the room and its inhabitants.

“And what I see here, is a group willing to do anything to stick to the right path in order to obtain that justice. To stand up to what is wrong, even if the path you walk is a darker one. You showed me that with Shido. And now you’re showing me that again.”

By the time she had finished speaking, she had turned back around to face Ren. Then, to the boy’s surprise, she smiled warmly.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m placing my bet on you. I’m in.”

_...Huh, I’m getting a weird sense of deja vu from this._

You could feel the tension release from everybody in the room at Sae’s words.

It returned just as quickly to Ren, however, when Sae leaned close to the boy’s ear and whispered harshly, “You are not getting off the hook that easily with Makoto’s little heist. We will have a discussion about this.”

Ren audibly gulped as Sae turned towards the others, raising her voice back to normal levels. “I may not have all my connections like I used to, but I still hold some weight in the world of law. I hope that I may be of some use to you.” She said, before moving back to sit on her chair. As she passed Makoto, the younger sister latched onto the older with a tight hug.

“You’ve grown so much sis… I’m so proud of you.”

Sae smiled and patted her sister’s head. “All of you reminded me why I entered the world of law in the first place. If the justice you’re after is the same as mine, then our goals align. We may as well be allies.”

“I can’t really do much aside from making everyone coffee and curry, as well as close the shop when needed, but I’ll be here.” Sojiro said from behind the counter, polishing a glass. “Although I suppose I could pull a few strings and favors that some owe me in the government, should you ever need it. But nothing too risky, ok? I don’t want the cops hanging out at this place all the time. It’ll drive away all my customers.” He added afterwards, smirking.

Ren let out a huge sigh that he didn’t know he was holding. He had expected all the ex-thieves (and Sojiro) to be willing to help, but to have Sae offer her support too? He only expected for her to just turn a blind eye and deny anything if she was ever questioned. Her willingness to join was a surprise, to be sure, but a very welcome one.

“Hey, leader! Got any words of wisdom to start our big comeback?” Morgana swished his tail, staring at him expectantly.

The room grew silent, awaiting Ren’s answer.

He scratched the back of his neck, a little embarrassed from the sudden attention. “Well, I guess I’ll say that the Phantom Thieves are proud to welcome it’s newest active member, Sae Niijima. We’re honored to have you offer to join the team, and I’m sure you won’t find any complaints from anyone about it.”

There was a brief period of applause and congratulations, followed by a nod of acknowledgement from the defense attorney.

He then turned to his adoptive father. “And thank you, Sojiro, for allowing us to use the cafe. I think we’re gonna need it more often from here on out.”

Sojiro shrugged. “It’s the least I can do, kid. By the way, I got the pot going. Curry will be ready in a few minutes.”

Ren then handed Futaba the usb he was still holding onto, which earned a happy yelp from the redhead, yelling something along the lines of “down with the douchebags!” as she plugged it into her laptop.

A smirk crossed his face. One that hadn’t appeared in years.

The true smirk of the wild card called Joker.

“Alright everyone, it’s time for the Phantom Thieves to make a comeback!”

Cheering ensued. But then, followed by...

“You know, If I’m going to be a Phantom Thief, I really need to find a way to understand the cat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's lot to digest from this chapter, but it's necessary stuff. It's all gotta happen so we can get to the fun heist-y bits!
> 
> Oh yeah, and Sae's a Phantom Thief now. She's one of my favorite characters, so I decided to put her in the limelight here and give her a major role. Perhaps that might be a bit selfish of me, but Sae could honestly be a good PT. She's got a very sharp mind and the knowledge of law, lore says she knows kickboxing (at the very least), and she won't crack under pressure.
> 
> Anywho, I'll leave it at that, so I don't reveal any other stuff I have planned. But I'm interested to see what people's opinions are on the newest addition to the team!


	9. Plot Holes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a question: I was thinking of maybe changing up the title of the fic. Not because it's misleading (the PTs will be stealing many things, don't worry), but because the word 'thing' in the title of a story sounds too informal. Does anybody have thoughts/comments on it?

Empty plates that once held curry were scattered around Leblanc. The Thieves had just finished their lunch together - complete with their newest member - and gathered around Futaba’s laptop to finally crack open the long-awaited data on her flash drive. Meanwhile, Sojiro collected the plates and began the process of washing them.

To Ren’s - and in turn, everyone else's' - dismay, the flash drive didn’t have a trace of Masao on it.

What it did have, however, are extremely intricate case files for every single officer in the precinct, no matter the rank. Only the commissioner himself seemed to be absent from the files.

Futaba sighed and leaned back in the booth. “I double and triple checked. There’s nothing. Are you sure that the commissioner has files on politicians, Makoto?”

Before Makoto could answer, Sae took her place. “That’s impossible. There’s no way that a commissioner for Shibuya will hold a politician’s files. That job belongs to something such as the national police, or higher up positions and intelligence agencies in the government itself. Think about it. Why would a commissioner be tasked with background checks on country-wide politicians?”

The whole room was silent, and Ren felt nothing but stupidity for himself. Of course a city commissioner wouldn’t have files on national politicians. That was way out of their paycheck. But then…

“Futaba, where did you find the files on Masao?”

The redhead shifted uncomfortably. “Erm… Let’s just say not the precinct?”

“Are you kidding me? Are you saying that I went on this heist, thinking that the files would be there because you dug them up from the police database, and they never even had the thing I was looking for?” Makoto’s voice rose as she spoke, slightly shaking with anger. She had risked her entire career over something that wasn’t even there, and she was making it known.

Futaba winced, and clutched onto Ren’s arm tightly, making herself as small as possible while speaking quickly. “I got the data from the dark web, ok? It was risky. Politician’s files are extremely hard to find and dangerous to acquire, but I wanted to help. And then you offered to go into the commissioner’s office yourself, and you seemed so sure you’d find something, so I thought it would be ok…”

Makoto was silent for a little while, but ultimately softened. Futaba clearly just didn’t know better. It wasn’t her fault, and neither did she expect the girl to understand how the government and police worked. What she knew was the hacking portion.

“...It’s ok, Futaba. You did all you could in your power. Sorry for raising my voice like that.”

“Uhh, if I can just butt in here… What’s this about a heist?”

Makoto and Futaba both snapped their heads to Ryuji, who was looking at Ren instead. He took a nervous glance at Sae, then sighed.

“Oh, about that. Well, you see…”

Over the next while, Ren, Makoto, and Futaba went over the past several days with the rest of the Phantom Thieves. They included the 4 days it took for Futaba to secure Masao’s file through the dark web, and the heist - from both Makoto’s side, and Ren and Futaba’s side. All three of them had seemed to make a silent agreement to leave out Makoto’s current internal dilemma - that wasn’t something they needed to share just yet.

“Woah… That’s awesome! I wish I could have been a part of that!” Ryuji said after the story was concluded.

“Even if you knew about it, you’re not a police officer. You couldn’t have done anything without attracting attention to yourself.” Ann pointed out.

“Oh, I guess you’re right…”

“Either way, what’s done is done. We should turn our attention on what we do know.” Ren took command of the situation, and all eyes fell on him.

“The first thing we know is that I have most likely been the target of some sort of election rigging to deny me into the political world. Meanwhile, Yusuke has lost his art patron. And from my understanding, while this isn’t a clean cut from the art world, it certainly is detrimental. Am I right?”

Yusuke nodded.

“That’s what I thought. Moving on; two of us were targeted within the last 7 days, and the art world is normally unrelated to the political world. The only connection between Yusuke and I otherwise is that we are both friends and Phantom Thieves.”

“So, then the current hypothesis is that the same person targeted you two, and they have a personal vendetta against the Phantom Thieves?” Sae finished for him.

“Yes, that’s correct.” Makoto said. “Although this person has to have quite the influence if they could hold sway in both the political and art scenes.”

“But who would hold both such weight in the political world and hatred for you at the same time? Shido’s trial eradicated all of his corruption, and subsequently your enemies in the political world.”

Everyone was silent for a few seconds, digesting Sae’s words.

“If I may interject, what if this person doesn’t hold any sort of political power?”

All heads turned to Haru, who continued.

“Let us assume that Sae-san’s hypothesis on the Metaverse is true, and a reverse change of heart can be forced. This person could be someone who has little to no political influence, but they can still reverse change of heart those who do and force them to attack us, yes?”

“...I see. If the culprit forces others to do their bidding by using the Metaverse, which we do not possess the ability to access, then they become impossible to trace.” Yusuke said, eyes on the ground in front of him.

“I wonder if this was how the police felt when they were trying to arrest us…” Ann said subconsciously, then recalled somebody present had indeed experienced that, and looked at Sae.

“Yes, this is deja vu for me. However, this time, I am aware of the Metaverse, and change of hearts.” She looked around at everyone else. “We have a lead, and that is what’s important. Futaba-chan, is there anything we can glean from these files?”

Futaba hummed for a second, before unplugging the flash drive. She thrust it in front of Sae, who blinked while staring at it. “I think you’ll have the best chance at finding inconsistencies or abnormalities with case files. Sorry Makoto, but Sae is easily the most qualified here. And don’t worry about losing it or anything, I have a backup of all the data.”

Sae blinked. “No honorifics, Futaba-chan?” She took the usb as she asked, placing it into her purse.

The redhead shrugged. “Honorifics don’t exist in our group - well, except for Haru, who for some reason refuses to get rid of them - and you’re one of us now. So I don’t see the need for it.”

The rest of the thieves murmured in agreement, causing Sae to give in. “Fair enough. I will keep this in mind going forward. As for the flash drive, I will take a thorough look through the files tonight, and will get back to everyone tomorrow. Which reminds me - I suppose I will require everybody’s contact information now.”

All the thieves agreed, and exchanged contact information with the defense attorney. Ren then drafted up a new group chat, including Sae.

“This new group chat will be where we discuss official plans. And Sae, I’d like you to stop by Futaba’s place when you get the chance so she can shroud your phone.

The silver-haired girl narrowed her eyes at Futaba. “You can do something like that? What do you do?”

Futaba gave something close to an evil laugh. “Hacker’s secret! But your phone will be completely encrypted. You can send and receive any text and there will be no online trace. Phone calls are a little more difficult. I have to deal with those manually if need be, so we don’t call each other too much.”

Sae’s eyes went from narrow to wide. “Well… That explains why we could never find digital evidence through phone data… I have to say, I am impressed with your abilities.”

“Muehehehe, never underestimate the original Medjed!”

If Ren hadn’t told Sae during the interrogation that Futaba was the original Medjed and the fake one that summer was an accomplice of Shido’s, Sae would have been surprised.

Standing up from her chair, Sae straightened out her suit jacket. “Now, I must be going. I have an appointment with a client coming up, and I need to prepare. However, I do have two questions before I take my leave.”

Ren waited, but it seemed Sae was waiting herself for his permission to go ahead. Instead, he shrugged. “No need for permission to ask here. Again, we’re a team. Speak your mind.”

She nodded. “The first is: I am aware you had a unanimous agreement rule before, is that rule in effect still? Will we require a vote before acting as the Phantom Thieves?”

“Yes! That will always be in effect no matter how long we are an organization, and it is actually a main driving factor behind me joining.” Haru answered for her.

“Very well. My second question; and I apologize for asking, since it seems to be a sore spot. Are you sure that Akechi is dead?”

She asked with a level, soft tone, but the thieves in front of her all exchanged uneasy glances.

Ryuji was the one to speak up. “I guess we literally didn’t see him die, but he was shot inside Shido’s palace, which ain’t around anymore. If he ain’t dead, then I dunno what dead is. ‘Sides, Futaba couldn’t find his reading anymore.”

“But how can you be so sure, if you didn’t see the body?”

Sae’s words had weight behind it. It was true that none of the thieves had seen Akechi die, but rather only heard gunshots through that iron wall in Shido’s palace. Could he have fooled the Phantom Thieves and cheated death?

“...I suppose we don’t have concrete evidence, but Orac- Futaba’s intel through Prometheus was always spot-on. It couldn’t have been wrong.” Morgana, who had been silently laying on the table while soaking in the conversation, spoke up.

Before Sae could complain about Morgana again, Haru translated. “Mona-chan says that Futaba’s persona was never wrong with intel; it’s entirely accurate.”

“Well, would it be possible to mask those readings? To fake it? Perhaps Akechi knew that Futaba could read his powers, and thus subdued them temporarily.”

Once again, the thieves found silence. In just one day, Sae had blown multiple plot holes from over the past 6 years wide open. It was a lot to think about. Finally, Makoto found the words to answer.

“Well, it looks like we may have to take back our assumption that Akechi is dead. However, I’m skeptical, given it has been 6 years and there hasn’t been a single hint of him.”

“We don’t need to rack our brains over it right this moment, but just think of it as a possibility that cannot be ruled out.” 

Morgana stood up and stretched out his hind legs. “Even if he is back, we’re the Phantom Thieves! We’ve defeated him once, and we can do it again! We won’t give him another chance to take the world!” Morgana shouted towards the end in a victory cry, and Ren swore that he sounded exactly the same as he did when they fought a god above the clouds.

The sound of breaking plates was heard from the direction of the kitchen.

Everybody whipped their heads to Sojiro, who was standing with his arms outstretched yet empty handed, as if he was holding an invisible stack of plates. His eyes were wide open, as well as his mouth.

Ren looked at Sae and noticed that she was just as wide-eyed, but her jaw was clenched and she was staring at Morgana.

The Phantom Thieves all exchanged glances. Did Sojiro and Sae just...

“What did I do? Do I have something on my face?” Morgana asked impatiently, ears twitching.

“U-Uh… N-No, you d-don’t.” Sae stammered out, her face pale.

“Oh, thank goo- WAIT, WHAT?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happened at the end here will be explained in the next chapter, don't worry!
> 
> And finally, I have beaten Yaldabaoth. Took me 107 hours in-game, but I'm that person who will spend an hour in the velvet room crafting the perfect personas, so that might inflate my time a bit. Even on merciless though, he wasn't that difficult. So, onto the new content! And please, no royal spoilers in the comments!


	10. Cognition is Complicated

“The cat is talking. It’s a talking cat. You’re a talking cat.” Sae said maniacally.

“You’ve known for 6 years that I have the ability to talk!”

“Yes, but now I can understand the talking cat! This is different!”

Nearly all of the Phantom Thieves exhaled some form of laughter, except for the feline and Ren. His mind was focused elsewhere.

_Sae can understand Morgana now. And from Sojiro’s reaction, I assume it’s the same. But how…?_

“Ok everyone, let’s settle down for a second. Let’s try to think this through.” Makoto attempted to get the room’s attention, but it was mostly focused towards the two new Morgana-hearers.

Leaving the broken plates on the floor, Sojiro moved around the counter to the customer side and leaned against it. He would clean them up later, but for now, he had to take a moment.

Sae sat back in her chair. Her meeting coming up was now the last thing on her mind. Fortunately it wasn’t today, but she did need to prepare. That was what she was hoping to do this afternoon.

But to Sae, a talking cat takes precedence.

Finally wrenching her gaze from Morgana, Sae looked at her sister. “Would you care to explain why I can suddenly understand Morgana now? Is it because I am now a Phantom Thief?”

Ann shook her head. “Nah, because Sojiro also seems to understand Morgana. At least from that reaction.”

“Y-Yeah, you’re right. I can understand him.” Sojiro’s normally gruff voice was unusually high pitched.

Makoto returned Sae’s gaze. “Sis, we don’t know why you can either. Normally, you’d need to go to the Metaverse to hear Morgana talk normally.”

“So, you’re saying that the typical protocol was for Morgana to talk in the Metaverse, and since you hear him talk there, you can hear him talk here?”

Morgana nodded. “Yup, sounds about right. Basically, since you recognize that I’m capable of human speech, your cognition allows you to understand me out here.”

Sae blinked upon hearing Morgana again, which caused Ren to chuckle softly. Seems like it’ll take her a bit to get used to it.

“Cognition! That’s it!” Makoto smacked her fist into her other palm with so much force that those close to her jumped. “Sis, Boss, I’m going to assume you still remember what happened that Christmas Eve?”

Both of them nodded wordlessly.

“Well, remember when you heard a boyish voice shout ‘We will take the world!’? That voice was Morgana’s.”

The cat caught onto what Makoto was getting to. “Ah, I see, so when I shouted “take the world” just now, it sounded like how I said it back then, and since their cognition recognizes that certain pitch and tone they translate it into real words?”

Makoto pointed at Morgana excitedly. “Exactly! And then now that the both of them have seen you speak in cat form, their cognition has changed to understand that you are capable of human speech, and they can understand you now!”

“I see…” Sae muttered, lost in thought. If she was still freaking out, she didn’t show it. “I suppose I did hear a boyish voice shout ‘We will take the world’ back then. And I didn’t understand you just now until you said ‘take the world’. Can you repeat the phrase accurately again so I can see if it matches the same voice back then?”

Morgana puffed out his chest, and shouted, “We will take the world!”

“Yeah, that’s the voice, alright.” Sojiro piped up.

“I agree, I recognize that tone and pitch.” Sae said.

“Is… that how it actually works? Is cognition that simple to manipulate?” Ann asked, twirling one of her pigtails.

“I’m not sure. Cognition is a very tricky and complex subject. I think we can just chalk this one up to luck.” Morgana replied, his tail swishing back and forth on the table.

“I agree. And I don’t think we’ll get a lucky break with cognition like that again.” Makoto said, taking charge of the conversation. “In this particular instance, Mementos was fused with Shibuya. The Metaverse and reality were one, and we could reliably change cognition. But it was only that easy in the Metaverse, even if Morgana said the reborn world is a product of cognition. Because even if it is, that doesn’t mean it would be easy to change cognition. If it were easy, it would be no different than the Metaverse.”

Makoto took a breath and waited for the information to sink into everyone. Even Morgana, the local cognition expert, was attentive.

“I don’t think it’s impossible to do the impossible, if that makes sense. Perhaps if the entire world were to change their cognition of something, then maybe something could happen. But that’s just speculation, and that would be very hard to test. However, since Morgana said that the world was based on everyone’s cognition, then perhaps…?”

Makoto was just thinking aloud at this point, but nobody wanted to point that out. And even if they did, every person in that cafe wanted to know what she was going to say next. It was better to not interrupt.

“What if we could actually have an impact on cognition? If this world is indeed a product of cognition, then our own cognition would be able to manipulate it. But only to a very small degree. Or maybe we could localize it to ourselves, but then that would mean we would need people to not think about us. If we were the only ones to think of ourselves, then we would have greater say on what our cognition would be of us. Is everyone following me?”

Her eyes scanned the room. Most people were lost in thought, except for Ryuji, who elbowed Ann.

“Hey, take a shot every time she says ‘cognition’.”

The combined glares from Ann and Makoto silenced him quickly.

“...So in summary, your hypothesis is this: The entire world is based on cognition. The cognition of this world comes from everybody on it. Therefore, if, say, all of humanity concentrated and somehow willed for the planet to be a desert wasteland, it would happen?” Sae asked.

“Based on Makoto’s theory, that would be the case.” Morgana said. “A couple of things, though. First, this is something that I have only told the Phantom Thieves, and now you and the chief. We are the only ones who know that people’s cognition is what makes - and influences - this reborn world. That much is fact. This is also a secret that cannot get out, no matter what. The results could be disastrous.”

Many heads nodded in response.

“Second, we’re also basing this theory off the Metaverse, which is influenced heavily by cognition. The effect could be at a lesser magnitude in reality. Maybe if the entire world attempted to cognitize a desert landscape, the world would just heat up a few degrees.”

Sae was thankful that she could finally understand the cat.

“And so, since the cognition on that Christmas Eve was at full strength through the Metaverse, we’re able to clearly understand you now?”

Makoto frowned. “That’s our best guess, it seems. It could be wrong, but we really don’t know. We hardly understood the Metaverse itself in the first place.”

“That doesn’t fully explain it. At least, to me. If the Metaverse and reality were fused, Morgana could talk normally. However, what would cognition have anything to do with it? Morgana speaking in the Metaverse isn’t a product of cognition but rather just a fact, is it not? Am I even making sense anymore?”

It was a valid point, and everybody seemed stumped with it. Well, stumped than most of everyone was already anyway.

To his surprise, though, Ren found himself opening his mouth. “I think it’s the phrase itself.”

Makoto crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly to one side. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Sae and Sojiro didn’t understand Morgana until he shouted the phrase ‘take the world’. If we go back to our theory that we have the ability to manipulate our own cognition on small levels, then it would be hard to change your cognition enough to allow yourself to understand a talking cat completely. However, if you were to hear a phrase that’s burned into your mind in the exact manner it was spoken, then your cognition would recognize it. And from there, you’d realize that the cat can talk, which would in turn allow you to fully understand Morgana.”

“...That makes much more sense than my ramblings.” Sae admitted. “But if cognition is so hard to change, then why can I so easily understand Morgana now?”

The cat paced back and forth on the tabletop. “If I had to hazard a guess, it’s probably because few people know I exist, and even fewer know I can talk. And since most people don’t know I exist, it must not be as hard - comparatively speaking - to change any sort of cognition surrounding me. So maybe it wouldn’t be too hard to change the cognition of two people to understand me, especially since they have heard me speak before?”

“But that brings up another point. Nobody is aware of the billions of people on this planet. Could somebody who isn’t thought about very much have the ability to change their own cognition easily? What even are the limits of it?”

Goodness, Sae was tackling this hard. The prosecutor side of her was back in full force right now.

It looked like nobody had an answer, so Ren stepped forward, commanding attention instead. Looking around at all of the faces that met him, he bit the inside of his cheek, thinking for a few seconds, before speaking.

“It looks like we all have a lot of questions about this, and for now, it seems we’ll just go forever in circles. I think it’s good that we do think about this, but we don’t want our heads to explode. This is a secret of the universe, sort of. We should take a break from that for now.”

Habitually, the other Phantom Thieves turned towards their second in command for her input. She cleared her throat.

“Ren is right - we will just drive ourselves crazy. I think we all need a break, and we’ll discuss this later. Either way, it is not the top priority; the flash drive is. There’s also the possibility that further progress made on our investigation will shed some light on the situation, given we’re assuming powers using cognition are involved. Sis, once you analyze it, let us know and we’ll meet up.”

Sae was all business. “Understood. However, I doubt that we will learn much from these files. The optimal outcome would be to obtain some leads on potential candidates that are suspect and worthy of attempting to get information out of. Corrupt police officers normally don’t know much, however.”

Ren sighed and nodded towards Sae’s purse, which meant the flash drive. “Well, unfortunately, that’s the only lead we have. Which makes it our best lead, unless something falls into our lap by a miracle.”

“I wouldn’t rule that out, ya know. For some reason, the luck stat of the Phantom Thieves is really high.” Futaba quipped, thinking back to times where change of heart targets were normally happened upon by sheer dumb luck.

“While that could potentially be helpful, I don’t want trouble to find us before we find it first.” Makoto sighed, while stealing a quick glance towards Ann. The model noticed, and timidly lowered her gaze to the table in front of her.

Makoto did notice Ann’s expression change, however, and tried her best to backpedal. “A-Although, given our ‘lucky’ nature, nobody should blame themselves if something does happen. Just let the rest of us know. We’re a team; we can help each other.”

Ann briefly looked up to Makoto, who saw crimson eyes gazing back into hers. The brunette flashed a small smile, which Ann returned.

The exchange didn’t go completely unnoticed. Most of the thieves exchanged quizzical glances, save for Ryuji (who unfortunately finds that stuff going right over his head, much to Ann’s frustration). Ever the attentive one, though, Ren had noticed possible implications behind the interaction. His eyes went from Makoto, to Ann, debating if he should pry, only to be met with Ann staring back at him. She seemed to understand his look, and nodded her head.

“Did… something happen?” Ren asked casually, trying to leave the question as open as possible. There was plenty of room to back out, if desired.

Just as attentive as her boyfriend, Makoto had noticed the other exchange. That was permission to speak.

“Well, last night…”

\----------

“Lemme at em, I’m gonna effin KILL those two! They’re lucky I wasn’t there to tear those two apart, limb by limb! I swear, if I had my Metaverse powers, I’ll...”

Ryuji’s rage was a sight to behold.

It was such a sight, in fact, that none of the thieves felt comfortable intervening - for their own sake.

That also included Sae, who was now witnessing the boy’s unfiltered rage for the first time. Ren was pretty sure he hadn’t seen the woman that scared in all the years he'd known her - which is saying a lot.

It went on for a minute or two before Ren attracted Ann’s attention with a small wave, then nodded to Ryuji. The blonde girl sighed before standing up to confront her boyfriend, putting her hands on his upper arms.

“Breathe with me.” Was all she said.

Ryuji protested at first, but soon found himself staring back into Ann’s serious, determined blue eyes. A minute later found them with synchronized deep breaths, before Ryuji suddenly pulled Ann into a tight hug.

“If I lost you… I… I don’t even know what I’d do.” He mumbled softly. Ren wasn’t sure if he was supposed to hear that or not. Or for that matter, if any of the other thieves were supposed to see… whatever it was that happened in front of them.

Ann hugged him back just as tightly, then whispered something into his ear. Whatever she said, Ren would never know, but it was enough to calm the boy down completely. Ann slid back into her seat at the booth, with Ryuji close behind. The two of them bunched up together, holding hands within tangled arms.

Nobody said anything for a little while, but Ren wasn’t surprised when Sae broke the silence. He had a feeling that was going to be sort of her thing. The woman had never been afraid to speak up.

“These two matching tattoos you mentioned… My initial thought is if they are Yakuza. Did you recognize the tattoos or remember them at all?”

Ann shook her head. “Sorry, it was kind of a blur for me and I didn’t really notice the tattoo details, just the tattoos themselves.”

Smirking, Ren looked down by his side to see Futaba looking up at him, her trademark _‘time to do something illegal’_ grin plastered on her face. He patted her on the shoulder.

“Ann, if you tell me where it happened, I’ll hack into the security camera network and find these two guys. I can do some searching on their tattoos too.”

“Excuse me? Doing something illegal is unnecessary. We have a police officer who can access the camera footage _legally_ , and run a cross reference on these men _legally_.” Sae’s eye was starting to twitch slightly.

“Hah! Only if you want it to take like, forever longer than me! I don’t have all that legal mumbo jumbo to loophole my way through, and I have more resources at my disposal compared to the police network. Basically, I got the cheat codes!”

“Are these… other resources even legal? Makoto, can’t you say something?”

To the older sister’s dismay, the younger one responded with a nonchalant shrug. “The gremlin’s got a point.”

This caused the silver-haired girl to take a deep breath, her eyes closed. “I’m… going to have to get used to us doing illegal things, aren’t I?”

“It comes with the contract. Although, the door is right there, should you want a final out…” Ren gestured toward the front door of Leblanc, and a sudden silence befell the cafe.

Surprisingly though, Sae hardly took her time to react. “Of course not. I wish to pursue this justice. And… I trust Makoto's judgement. It will just require some time to acclimate, is all. That being said,” Sae stood up from her seat, and took a few steps towards the door. “I really should be going. I am going to need to cram if I wish to review both my current client’s case files, and the police case files in one night.”

“If you’re too busy, sis, you can review the files tomorrow when you have more time.”

Sae turned around, giving a dismissive wave of her hand. “Nonsense. If people among us are being targeted, then time is of the essence. I will review the files with accurate haste, and report a brief of my findings in a group message. We will have to meet up in person in order to digest all the information, no doubt.” She coughed awkwardly, and Ren could see the tiniest of blushes on her face. “Oh, and… Thank you. For letting me be a part of the team. I promise I will hold my own weight, and make up for the time I chased after you years ago.”

Before anybody could reply, Sae waved her hand again, albeit in a more friendly manner, and briskly stepped out of the cafe. The thieves sat in silence for a few seconds.

“I hafta admit, she’s the last person who I’d expect to join the team. But you won’t see me complainin’!” Ryuji said.

Ren smirked, some air blowing out his nose. “I suppose you’re correct. She will be a very valuable ally.”

As he had been standing this entire time, Ren grabbed a chair from the counter, spun it around, and sat on it backwards. The rest of the group took this as a sign of him wishing to address everyone, so they kept quiet.

“Well, I believe we have a couple of things to think about now. We don’t have a concrete deadline, but let’s just assume that whoever this person is, is extremely dangerous and capable of interfering with our lives at a quick pace. However, given that we haven’t had any ‘reverse changes of heart’ happen to us, I would say that we can’t be targeted directly for some reason.”

“This is just a quick guess, but could it be because we have personas? It’s the same reason we didn’t have palaces, or even a shadow in Mementos.” Makoto proposed.

“But didn’t our personas go away once the Metaverse was destroyed?” Ryuji asked, scratching the back of his head.

“Our personas are ourselves within our heart. You can’t lose part of your heart, so your personas will always be with you. You just can’t summon them anymore.” Morgana clarified.

“If our personas are with us, then how come we can’t converse with them like we used to when the Metaverse still existed? Did they just leave and retreat to a part of our heart we can’t reach?” Ren asked.

His answer came from his own head.

**We have never left, Trickster.**

_Ren blinked. Arsene?_

**Indeed, it is I.**

_Where have you been? Why haven’t you conversed with me all this time?_

**Sometimes, Trickster, it is best for us to watch fate unfold on its own. You did succeed in escaping ruin, after all. You are free from its shackles, and no longer require my services.**

_If that’s the case, why are you still here?_

**I am thou, thou art I. We are bound together by the strings of your heart, and I shall remain within you as your spirit of rebellion.**

_I’m honestly glad. It feels as if a part of me has returned, and I feel whole again._

**I am always a part of you, Trickster. Nor have I ever left. None of us have left.**

_Wait, what do you mean by ‘us’? And why talk to us now after years of silence?_

Arsene didn’t answer, but the looks on all of Ren’s friends did answer the first question. It was pretty obviously painted on their face that they were going through the same thing he currently was.

The thieves exchanged shocked glances, all of them coming to the realization in silence.

“Sooo… I’m guessin’ everyone else has another voice talking in their head again?”

Ryuji’s question was met with nods of agreement.

“Are those, things of yours, back?”

Everyone jumped at the gruff voice coming from behind the counter. Oh, right. Sojiro was still here. He kept his silence very well, but it wasn’t like he would have too much to contribute in the first place.

“Seems that way. I don’t think any of us know what it means, but we could also be overlooking things. It’s something else to file away in the list of things we need to look further into now.” Ren sighed. It wasn’t necessarily a sorrowful sigh, however. Hearing his rebel’s spirit again was easily the best thing to happen to him in the past week.

But now there was something he wanted to look into, and as soon as possible at that.

\----------

“Rennnnn, can we go home already? We still have our weekly Mario Party game to play!”

Futaba practically dragged on Ren as the two of them, along with Makoto and Morgana, walked through the central street of Shibuya.

The two girls never tagged along with him enough to know what his goal was, but Morgana, a victim of the confines of the boy’s bag, seemed to have the idea. Poking out of his comfy ride, he yawned.

“Are you checking on the Velvet Room?”

Ren nodded. “I just want to see if it’s there. It’s a gamble, but since our personas suddenly decided to reopen communication with us, I just want to make sure.”

As they turned the corner towards the alley that housed Untouchable, Morgana pushed his upper body out of the bag to rest on Ren’s shoulder. The black-haired boy stared at the corner of the alley.

And found no trace of the blue jail door.

“...There’s nothing there.” Makoto said simply.

Futaba groaned. “Geez, what a waste of time… Can we go home now?

“Only Ren can see the Velvet Room, remember?” Morgana reminded the other two. “Ren, is it there?”

He shook his head, and turned around. “I’m not surprised. I guess I just had a hope that by some slim chance, I could get some guidance in the form of Igor.”

**The guidance of the denizens of the Velvet Room are no longer of use to you. You played the game, and you are now out of their control. You determine the next steps.**

_Good to know. We’re on our own, I guess._

**Do not underestimate the abilities you and your confidants hold, Trickster. With their help, you will prevail.**

That caused Ren to blow air out of his nose, accompanied by a smirk. He noticed a quizzical look from Futaba.

Ren chuckled. “Arsene basically told me not to worry, we will overcome our struggles with the power of friendship!”

Futaba’s eyes went half-lid. “Your badass persona pulled _that_ card? Seriously?”

**Do not trivialize my words of wisdom!**

This caused Ren to stifle another laugh. “Regardless of what he said, the power of friendship means nothing in Mario Party. Today, we end Morgana’s 3 week win streak!”

“Yeah! Everybody gang up on Mona!” Futaba yelped, which earned a couple of glances as the group entered their train back to their apartment complex.

“I agree, somebody else needs to win for a change.” Makoto giggled.

Despite their earlier protests about staying in the bag to avoid the pet fare, Morgana’s upper half popped out of Ren’s bag. “You’re just sore losers who can’t accept somebody without opposable thumbs beating you!”

Ren sighed as a small smile crossed his face. Tomorrow was going to be the start of another chapter in his life. One that was most likely going to be the most dangerous since his escapades as the Phantom Thieves.

Ren pushed it out of his mind. That was a problem for tomorrow. For now, he would enjoy his last day of ‘normalcy’. Which was relative, considering he was going to play Mario Party with a sentient, talking cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that's finally out of the way. Gotta have that talk to define how cognition will work post-canon in the reborn world!
> 
> Also, a quick aside, but we hit 1k hits quicker than I expected. Thanks to everyone who's reading; I hope people continue to enjoy this fic as much as I enjoy writing it!


	11. Tokyo Sunrise

Ren always hated it when Makoto slapped him.

Groaning softly, he lifted Makoto’s hand off himself, holding it up in the air just above him. He gave it a quick kiss, then gently set her arm next to her sleeping body.

Ren would never dare admit it, but Makoto wasn’t the most... tame sleeper. She tended to roll around, which Ren was fine with (they did splurge on a king size bed, after all), but every so often she would flail an arm as she turned. And this one just so happened to catch him on his face at…

He looked at the digital clock on his nightstand.

4:47 AM.

Sighing, he faced the ceiling. _May as well…_

It took a minute, but he slowly exited the bed. Taking extra care to not wake Makoto nor Morgana, who lay on the end of the bed, Ren silently grabbed his night shirt off the ground and stealthily exited the room.

Stifling a yawn as he walked into the kitchen, Ren turned on the lights, immediately lowering the dimmer in response to the fact that he had forgotten to last night. If he wasn’t fully awake, he was now - the bright spots in his eyes made sure of that. With a lighting much more suitable for the early morning, Ren set about brewing a pot of coffee. And none of the cheap stuff, either. Sojiro would disown him if he ever used instant coffee.

Measuring the beans out, he hummed softly while his hands worked on autopilot. Several minutes later found him pouring a fresh cup, the familiar aroma invading his nose. A happy sigh escaped his lips - there was nothing like the first cup of coffee of the day. Although, perhaps there’s an even better way to enjoy it…

Ren set the cup down, then pulled on his black night shirt that he had grabbed from the bedroom.

“You gonna put on some pants, too?”

Ren jumped out of his skin as he spun around, only to see nobody there. But, not all sentient talking life forms in this apartment were human-sized. Looking down, he saw Morgana sitting up, looking at him with a smirk. And looking further down, the boy noticed he was only wearing boxers. The Phantom Thief ones, to be exact. Their brief merchandise stint had some worthy purchases.

“A-Ah, right… Last night…” Ren and Makoto had fooled around a little, which would explain the fact that he was only wearing boxers in bed. He normally preferred a night shirt and sweatpants.

“Too late to go back in now, you don’t wanna wake the lady up.” Morgana answered his own question, stretching his back. “Luckily for you, I came prepared.” The cat jerked his head to the couch, to reveal a pair of sweatpants waiting for him.

“God, you’re the best.” Ren exclaimed as he put his pants on, picking up his coffee afterward. “I was thinking of going out on the balcony, care to join me?” he asked as he moved to the other side of the main room, stopping in front of the glass sliding door. It led to a balcony that overlooked the Tokyo skyline, or perhaps it was more accurate to say the apartment building was in the smack dab middle of it. When you made as much money as you did as a Phantom Thief, you could afford to splurge a little.

Morgana trotted over as Ren opened the door, allowing the feline to squeeze through before stepping out to shut it again. He was just a touch cold in the early morning summer breeze that collided with the high rise, but each sip of his coffee warmed him inside. Two cushioned outdoor chairs awaited the pair, a low table between them. Ren set his cup down, threw his hands behind his head, and took a deep breath.

“I have to thank you for turning me into a morning person. The early morning is easily my favorite part of the day now.” The boy murmured.

“I told you you’d come to like it! The early morning, everything is quiet and peaceful, and the world hasn’t woken up yet. And then you had to go and get us an apartment in a high rise that watches the sun rise over the city.”

Ren snorted. “That better not be complaining I hear.”

“Of course not!”

A small smile tugged at Ren’s lips before he took a sip of coffee. “You’re right, though. It’s so peaceful, I can’t help but let my mind wander sometimes.”

Morgana didn’t reply, his own mind seemingly a step ahead of the other’s.

The two of them sat in silence for a while, enjoying each other’s company. Meanwhile, the sky had begun to turn a bright pink and orange, signifying the imminent end to their escape from the business of normal life. With the silence in the air, Ren decided it would be as good a time as ever to attempt to get some answers out of his other self.

_Arsene?_

**Yes, Trickster?**

_Why did you stay silent in the last several years?_

There was a pause from within Ren’s mind. A sip of coffee was taken.

**To put it in terms that mortals may understand, I shall explain it as such: I am always within you as your rebel’s spirit. However, this means I am tied directly to your will of rebellion.**

_But wasn’t I labeled a rebel since my awakening?_

**That is correct, however your actions in the previous several years have not been entirely rebellious.**

_So, since I haven’t been acting like a lawbreaker in the past years, you haven’t been strong enough to reach out to me?_

**Not entirely. Think of it as my services weren’t required, since your rebellious spirit has not been used as of late.**

_It’s not that you weren’t strong enough, but you simply didn’t want to interfere?_

**Correct. I have no reason to interfere with your fate, so long as you do not stray from your justice.**

_Right, my awakening was me committing to stick to the correct path._

Ren took another sip of coffee, the sun started to peek over the horizon, and his brow suddenly furrowed.

_Am I straying from my justice that you have spoken to me again?_

**This is no interference with your fate, Trickster. You have declared yourself a Phantom Thief again, have you not? Your rebellious spirit has returned in force, and I have answered the call.**

Ren hummed an “Ahhh…”, raising his head slightly. He now understood.

Morgana, who had been sitting human-like on the cushioned chair while enjoying the sunrise, turned to the other. “Something up?”

Ren considered telling Morgana about his conversation with Arsene, but ultimately decided against it. It wasn’t that he had something to hide. Rather, it was he believed his conversation would make no use to the others.

Each thief joined his cause for their own personal reasons. They would have their own conversations with their own personas, and their conversations would no doubt be unique to his or her own.

“Nah.” Another sip of coffee.

Morgana sighed, getting up to make his way to Ren’s lap. He noticed and uncrossed his legs, allowing flat ground for the cat to sit on.

“You’re thinking about something big. Spill it.”

The words were harsh, yet the feline’s voice was soft. He curled up in a ball, face towards the rising sun, awaiting an answer.

After a dozen or so seconds, Ren spoke up. “Nothing huge, just the Phantom Thieves.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie. Arsene had ended his conversation discussing the Phantom Thieves, after all.

“Figures.” Morgana muttered, stifling a yawn. Ren placed a hand behind the cat’s head, and idly scratched.

Another short stint of silence, and another sip of coffee.

“You were talking with Arsene, weren’t you?”

Morgana couldn’t see the smile on Ren’s face, but he did feel the slight movement in his body that replicated the feeling.

“So I was right. What did you talk to him about?”

“Nothing too serious, actually. Mostly about his return. He didn’t mention anybody else this time, though, so I didn’t see a reason to bring it up.”

“Fair enough. I suppose the rest of us can talk to our own personas for that information. Although, don’t you think it was a bit weird all of our personas appeared again at the same time?”

“We can try and guess, but mayb-”

Ren was cut off from the balcony door opening behind him, followed by…

A loud alarm noise?

Both human and cat whipped around to see an extremely annoyed-looking Makoto, in a hastily thrown on shirt and panties so she would at least be covered up, glaring at the pair.

“What the hell is up with this alarm, Ren? Your screen started strobing as well and I can’t find a way to shut it off. Even the phone itself is refusing to turn off.”

She shoved the phone unceremoniously in front of his face, and sure enough, the screen was strobing and blaring something close to an ear-piercing alarm. “It scared the shit out of me, and I have a late shift tonight, and-”

At the screen being shoved in his face, Ren immediately turned away. Isn’t it bad for your eyes to have a bright strobing light shoved directly in your face? Wait… Wait a second… That strobing light...

Finally out of his initial daze, Ren pieced together what was going on. That blaring, inescapable alarm? The sheer noise and brightness almost pleading for it to be noticed? That was put on his phone for one purpose, and one purpose only.

His eyes went wide as he nearly jumped out of his seat, Morgana yelping as he fought to land upright on the balcony floor. The boy nearly shoved Makoto down as he snatched his phone out of her hands and pushed past her, leaping over their living room couch to take the straightest path. He almost tripped over other furniture but dodged it deftly, making a beeline down the apartment hallway for the front door. He could hear Makoto’s initially angry shouts, which sooned turned to a more panic-sounding tone once she realized he wasn’t listening.

Ren was indeed listening, but the words didn’t register. He was only focused on one thing as he threw open the front door and dashed out, still barefoot.

Futaba’s panic alarm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished Royal! The third semester was kinda short, but sweet. I loved the new palace, the new party members, the new villain, etc. I just wish it lasted longer, or there was some sort of way to allow party members to be permanently available for gameplay, no matter where you are in the game, in NG+. It couldn't be that hard to implement, right?
> 
> Anywho, looks like things are finally going to pick up. There's a lot that I could write about the characters to further develop them, but honestly, I'm just ready to get into the action. Not to say that there won't be character development as the story continues, of course. I'm mostly talking about the setup development. But at some point, you gotta just dive into the deep end.


	12. QuickTime Events

Futaba had never been much of a physically-capable fighter.

Emphasis on physical. She was great at hacking and flame wars, and other types of cyber fighting. However, the prowess that comes with arguing with dumbasses on the internet doesn’t transfer to real life.

That’s why she found herself huddling in a kitchen cupboard, clutching a knife, her knuckles white and trembling. As was the rest of her body, too.

Fortunately for Futaba, her wacky sleep schedule had her awake early in the morning, when most would be asleep. So, she was able to hear the jostling of her lock on her apartment door. Her initial emotion was pure, unadulterated panic. But her survival instincts and adrenaline kicked in soon after, and she began her preparations.

The girl was by no means stupid. A break in at this time ensured that the resident would be home. Most burglars would opt to do their business during the day, when the homeowner would likely be out of the house. No, this meant one thing, as much as Futaba hated to realize it.

They were here for _her._

The first thing she did, aside from letting a long string of curses loose under her breath, was turn off all the lights in her apartment. She was immediately plunged into darkness, held up her hand, and breathed in a sigh of relief. With her blackout curtains covering every window of her place, it was near pitch black in her apartment. She couldn’t see her hand in front of her, unless she held it very close to her face.

The second thing she did was pull her phone out of her night shorts elastic that held it to her skin, scrolling to a certain app. She opened it, then hit the big alarm button that popped up after. She bit her lower lip as she turned on the flashlight on her phone, making her way for the kitchen. She almost thought about calling the cops at first, but decided against it. She was a criminal again, even if they had no proof. No offense to her (doubly unofficial in that she and Ren weren’t blood siblings, and Makoto wasn’t married to him yet) sister-in-law, but she hated the fuzz. Plus, Ren was more reliable.

Ren would initially be annoyed with having to wake up this early, but Futaba was certain that would vanish as soon as he saw why he was woken up. Wait, why was she even concerned about that at a time like this? _Priorities, girl!_

The third thing she did was turn on her phone’s flashlight, stumbling her way to the kitchen. She reached for a knife in the holder of a knife set she received as a housewarming gift, then ducked down to a cabinent in the corner of the kitchen. She opened it and crawled inside, endlessly thanking herself for having such a small frame. Very few people would be able to fit in a space as small as this, and hopefully that meant her potential captors, whoever they were, wouldn’t look here first.

And there she was, in the cupboard with a knife, awaiting what might be her kidnapping.

 _Please Ren, get here quickly…_ She thought to herself as she balled herself up, sniffling. And then, she heard her door fly open. Not with a soft sound of the door opening, but the forced sound of the lock shattering and the door banging against the wall as it swung.

 _Idiots_ , despite herself, she sighed. _If I didn’t know you were coming, I do now._

The thought was cut off from anything else when she heard footsteps enter the kitchen from the hallway, followed by the sight of light leaking through the cabinet door as the apartment lights were turned on.

Silence. She tensed up, trying her best to steady her breathing as quietly as possible.

“There’s a knife missing from this set.” A gruff voice called out quietly right outside her cabinet, and it took everything in her power for the small girl not to squeak. “She knows we’re here.”

_Shit._

The room fell silent again, save the footsteps of… 2 people? Or was it 3? Futaba couldn’t tell for sure, but luckily, they seemed to be moving away from her. _That boss said “she”... Why would they even need multiple people to capture a gremlin like me anyway? Or maybe, they’re scared because they don’t know what I’m capable of…_

 _Oh, shittttttt._ Futaba internally groaned. _They gotta know I’m a Phantom Thief. Especially since they already know who I am. It sucks being famous._

Her thoughts drew short when she noticed the loud, yet subtle sound of _pit pat pit pat_ coming from what she assumed was the direction of her door. _Somebody must be running barefoot…_ She gasped. _Ren!_

“FUTABA! ARE YOU OK?”

_Yup, definitely Ren. Aaaaand…_

“What the fuck was that? With me!”

And sure enough, Futaba could hear her kidnappers moving about in her apartment, probably preparing for Ren’s entry. The girl could feel herself start to shake involuntarily, her mind going at 1000 miles an hour.

 _Shitshitshitshitshit those high level bosses are going to hurt Ren what can I doooooo-_ _Ok, calm down. Think. This is just a quicktime event. You got this._

“WHO ARE YOU? WHERE’S FUTABA?”

Oh, goodness, Ren was already in the apartment.

Futaba momentarily closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and before she even realized what she was doing, she kicked open the small cabinet door and slid out, standing to full height. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in the situation.

The first thing she noticed was that she was right in her guesstimate of 3 people. Said 3 goons (that’s what she clocked them as, at least) had her back to her, all facing Ren. They wore leather jackets, combat pants and boots, and masks to cover their face and neck to complete the ensemble. To Futaba, they were indeed pretty much the definition of a rip off character from a fighting game.

Fortunately, it seemed none of them noticed her exit from the cabinet. She saw Ren react slightly upon seeing her, but he held his gaze at the goon as to not betray her spot. Instead, she saw his eyes turn golden-yellow as he quickly scanned each goon.

The three goons all recoiled a little upon seeing his sudden eye color change, but Futaba grinned.

_Ahh, the good ‘ol Third Eye._

Ren had retained his sensory abilities even after the collapse of the Metaverse, claiming it to be a gift from Igor. And since it wasn’t persona-related, he could use it anywhere, any time. She hadn’t seen him use it in a long time, but then again, it wasn’t every day you had 3 goons in your apartment with a busted down door at 5 in the morning.

Ren blinked in quick succession 4 times, his eyes still on goon 3. That told Futaba what she needed to know.

_‘These guys are unarmed.’_

_Heh, dumbasses…_ Futaba mused. Perhaps they thought she would be easy pickings, or perhaps they didn’t want to be caught with a weapon. _Or… Maybe they wanted me unharmed._

She shuddered.

With all this happening in the span of a second or two, the goons still hadn’t noticed the orange-haired girl yet. And even better, nobody had made a move. The adrenaline soared through her, and she did something she never thought she’d ever do.

Futaba sprinted behind the nearest goon, raised her knife high in the air, and brought it down into his upper back hard with both hands, driving it in as deep as she could. The goon immediately crumpled to the ground, screaming in agony. The other goons turned around in shock as Futaba grabbed a plastic bowl used for ramen earlier and brought it down onto the back of the downed goon’s head, silencing him promptly.

“Looking for me, _assholes_?” Her last word was spat out, dripping with venom.

“You fucking little bitch!” Goon 2 charged Futaba, and she suddenly froze up. She hadn’t figured out what to do after she incapicated goon 3. In fact, she hadn’t really planned on how to take down goon 3 at all. So how was she going to get her way out of this?

Before the goon could reach her, however, he suddenly lurched to the side as Ren tackled him in full-force. They crashed against the kitchen counter, but Futaba had to tear her eyes away from the conflict. There was another goon to worry about.

Said goon was advancing towards her slowly, fists up in a fighting stance. Futaba almost laughed, of all things, at his caution. She wasn’t capable of hand to hand combat. If anything, he should just scoop her up and run.

_Wait, why am I thinking about how easy it would be to kidnap me? Quick girl, find something!_

Futaba backed up slowly, chancing a quick glance behind her to see the set of kitchen knives that she had swiped from earlier. She reached out to grab one, but her wrist was suddenly seized by goon 1, gripping her tightly. She opened her mouth to scream, but her sheer terror prevented anything from coming out. Goon 1 snarled as he quickly covered her entire range of vision, cutting off the confrontation between goon 2 and Ren.

“You little bitch, you’re going to pay for this.”

He brought his head back, and Futaba’s eyes widened at the realization of what he was going to do.

He brought his head down into Futaba’s forehead in a headbutt. _Hard._

She heard a loud _crack_ , and for a millisecond, she knew nothing but pain.

Futaba’s world went dark.

\----------

Ren hadn’t been in a fight since Yaldabaoth.

Sure, he and Makoto would spar from time to time to keep his skills sharp, but this was different. Makoto normally didn’t try to kidnap his sister.

He silently thanked Makoto for his lessons as he was attempting to hold his own against somebody much bigger and beefier than him. He kept on the defensive, but his eyes barely paid any attention to the man in front of him. He could dodge blows with his eyes closed. He _was_ Joker, after all.

No, what he was looking at was the crumpled form of Futaba, an arm held up by one of her kidnappers while the rest of her body had gone slack. Blood trickled down her forehead in a thin, slow line, signifying what must be a small crack in her head.

His eyes widened, refusing to take them off her as he dodged another punch. But then he felt rage.

A whole shitton of rage.

**Yes! Let your anger flow through you! Show them the power of the Trickster!**

Uncharacteristically giving off something akin to a warcry, Ren ducked his head and bodychecked headfirst into the bigger assailant. Since Ren had been on the defensive, his opponent hadn’t anticipated the oncoming aggression, and stumbled backwards, tripping over his unconscious friend on the ground. As he looked up towards Ren to make his next move, he found he was already too late.

Ren had pursued him as quickly as he could, using his forward momentum to jut his knee forward and slam it into the kidnapper’s nose. Blood spurted out from his nostrils, his head flew backwards, and slammed into the kitchen tile. He lay motionless, a small pool of blood forming around the back of his head.

By this point, Futaba’s kidnapper has turned around to witness the carnage. His eyes widened as he noticed yet another of his friends on the ground, creating a second pool of blood on the white tile (by now the attacker with the knife in his back had bled onto the floor). Before Ren could make a move, he grabbed a knife from the set holder on the kitchen counter, and held it above the unconscious girl’s head.

“Make one move and she’s fucking dead.”

Ren narrowed his eyes, studying him. He watched his muscle movements, the way he adjusted his grip on the knife…

He came to a realization. “You wouldn’t kill her. You need her alive.”

The masked man didn’t reply, but he narrowed his eyes in response. Ren had successfully called the bluff.

Ren bit his lip, trying to determine what to say back to silence. He had never been in a hostage situation in reality before. Not to mention that he didn’t have a weapon on him. And even if the initial plan wasn’t to harm her, he now had two incapicitated comrades on the ground. One who’s probably now paralyzed for life with a knife in his back, and the other with a broken nose at the least. It’s possible he might kill Futaba out of revenge.

An audible growl escaped Ren’s throat as the two continued their standoff.

_What the hell am I supposed to do?_

\----------

Futaba’s head hurt like hell.

And to top it off, she could taste blood in her mouth.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, half-lidded at first, then fully after several seconds. She had a splitting headache, and while she wanted to groan loudly, she quickly remembered her situation.

_Oh, right… goon attack, I got headbutted…_

At that point, she finally realized what was actually going on. Through her hazy vision, her eyes first went to Ren, who this time spared a quick glance at her, but didn’t do anything else to reveal her status. Then, she noticed… goon 2, was it? Yeah, goon 2. Goon 2 was on the floor, blood coming out his nose and the back of his head. Ouch.

So that meant goon 1 still had her by the hand. She could also feel something very sharp pressed against the top of her head. _Oh, great, a knife. Is this a hostage situation? How do I get out of this?_

Futaba racked her brain for ideas, but was having a hard time coming up with anything. Sure, hostage situations were a rare occurrence in the Metaverse that she had to deal with, but she was never the one who was actually taken hostage. That, and normally everyone had guns. And superpowers.

Oh, and there was also her splitting headache, too.

Thinking about the Metaverse made her consider something else, in turn. She was acting pretty calm for this situation. The normal Futaba would be doing much more embarrassing and desperate things, but instead, here she was, playing the ‘I’m still knocked out’ card to buy some time. Some very tense time, mind you, as Joker and goon 2 stared each other down.

_Wait._

_Joker._

_Why did I think of Ren as Joker?_

Then, it hit her.

Metaverse or not, each Phantom Thief had two personalities. The one in reality, and the one born in the Metaverse. However, that wouldn’t mean the personalities are restricted to each respective world. No, right now, Ren was Joker, and she was Oracle. They were acting as the confident, calm, and collected Phantom Thieves.

The next thing she felt was a bump and her body slumping. Blinking, she noticed that she was actually in the entryway of her apartment, her body slumping down the entryway step. She had been so laser focused on her thoughts that she didn’t realize goon 2 was in the process of dragging her out of her apartment, the tip of the knife still pressed to her head as insurance to guarantee him a safe exit.

Before he could make it outside, however, Oracle could hear the _click_ of a gun.

“Don’t. Move.”

Goon 2 stood very still.

“Drop the knife.”

Oracle felt the light pressure of the blade lift from her head, and heard the clang of it falling to the ground somewhere out of her vision. She couldn’t pinpoint where exactly, as her senses were still hazy, but she took this opportunity to yank on her wrist as hard as she could. Goon 2, not exactly expecting resistance from his hostage at that particular moment, couldn’t stop Oracle from slipping out of his grasp.

Unfortunately, she had trouble keeping her stability, and her head slumped forward, knocking into the wooden entryway with a solid _thud_. A new wave of pain shot through her head, and she felt another gush of warm blood on her forehead. Groaning, she attempted to get up, but was instead lifted by somebody else. Arms wrapped around her tightly, supporting her, as she let out a pained sigh.

“...Who…”

She heard him speak, but this time she couldn’t tell what he was saying. That last collision with the nice and hard wood in her entryway seemed to have dulled her senses even more. Not only that, but she could also feel her consciousness slipping away again.

She felt someone hoist her up, carrying her with her head resting against his, and his hands around her butt to keep her upright. She wanted to say a joke about butt grabbing, but given how if she wasn’t right-side up her head would bleed even more, she held her tongue.

Not that she could have said anything, anyway. Everything was so far away, she could barely hear it, or see it, or even say it. She also could barely see an image of a woman with a gun pressed against goon 2’s head as her carrier passed her, stepping outside her apartment.

_So… tired…_

_Guess I’ll… sleep…_

She went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, by this point, we're finally out of the 'prologue', so to speak. While I do like these previous chapters overall, at the end of the day my goal was to write a fanfic that was basically the Phantom Thieves in action, 6 years later, and without the Metaverse (Maybe! Sae isn't convinced it doesn't exist anymore, after all). I also wanted to really explore the idea of just how close the PTs would become over the years, given what they've all gone through. And thus, this fic is born.
> 
> Anywho, I basically consider this chapter as the start of the next arc. Let the more gritty story plot and (more frequent) action begin!


	13. Aftermath

Ann hated late night photoshoots.

And more specifically, she hated it when Ryuji was staying over for the night when she had an early photoshoot the next morning.

Not because she didn’t like him. She just didn’t like how she would feel like a zombie the day after. A late night photoshoot combined with an even later night of hanging out with Ryuji, and she might as well be on Futaba’s sleep schedule, with the exception of waking up at normal people hours. Why can’t the normal people just start later in the day for her when this happens?

For what was probably the 5th time, she heard Ryuji slam his fist onto her alarm clock, hitting the snooze. “Eff me, why’s your alarm gotta be so loud?” He grumbled, still half-asleep.

Ann rolled over so she was facing her boyfriend, who had his back to her. Leaning up, she reached over him to turn the alarm fully off, instead of setting it to snooze.

“Ughhh, we should probably get up…” Despite being somewhat more awake, Ann didn’t really sound the part. And instead of getting out of bed, she decided to snuggle into Ryuji’s back, pressing herself flush against him while bringing her arm to his chest instead of back to her side.

That earned a squirm from Ryuji. “Uhh, Ann… Y-You’re, uhh…”

Ann’s brow furrowed before she looked down at her own body. “Oh! Sorry about that.” She felt her face turn hot as she moved away from him, but Ryuji’s utterly cute reaction to the situation made her smile.

“I don’t mind, it’s just, well... “ He trailed off, which made Ann giggle.

“I know, I know, you don’t wanna get all hot and bothered this early in the morning!” Her face turned a deeper shade of red, but she was in it to get a reaction from Ryuji; friendly fire be damned. “What time is it, anyway?” She asked as she reached for her own nightstand, fumbling for her phone.

“9 o’clock. I gotta get to training pretty soon.” Ryuji responded as he sat up in bed and stretched, his muscles rippling along his shirtless torso.

Ann herself sat up with her phone in hand, checking the daily dose of weather, news headlines, and notifications. One hand was on her phone, while the other brought her blanket up to cover her chest.

“Huh, the PT chat has been busy this morning, Ryuji.”

“For real? What’s it say?”

When Ryuji didn’t get an answer, he looked over at Ann, only to see her covering her mouth with one hand, the other trembling with the phone in it. Ryuji went wide-eyed and scooted over next to her. “Hey, what’s goin’ on?”

His own eyes widened as he and Ann scrolled through the text conversation.

> _**Ren:** We’re meeting at Leblanc tonight. It’s highly urgent. Cancel any plans you might have._
> 
> _**Haru:** I have a board meeting this afternoon, but I should be able to meet tonight. What happened? Is everyone ok?_
> 
> _**Ren:** ...There was an attempt to kidnap Futaba._
> 
> _**Haru:** WHAT? Is she ok?!_
> 
> _**Ren:** She’s safe. I’m with her at Tae’s. Says she has a concussion, and she’s been unconscious for a couple of hours. She also had her head cracked open._
> 
> _**Sae:** That is horrible news to hear so early in the day - I hope she’s ok. I will let my client know our meeting is postponed; this takes precedence. What happened to her kidnappers?_
> 
> _**Ren:** I appreciate you putting us first, Sae. Futaba and I fought off her kidnappers. We incapicated two of them, and the third was arrested by Makoto._
> 
> _**Sae:** Was there anything about the kidnappers that stood out to you?_
> 
> _**Ren:** Not particularly, they were covered up for the most part. But we can discuss the details later at the meeting, when everyone is around._
> 
> _**Sae:** I would like to question the suspects beforehand. I will stop by the police station and see if Makoto could pull some strings._
> 
> _**Haru:** I’m sorry that I can’t do anything more to help right now, but as soon as I get the chance I’m coming to Yongen!_
> 
> _**Makoto:** Good morning, those of you awake. An update on the suspects: The incapicated two are still in ICU and unresponsive. The third is in a temporary cell, awaiting interrogation. I have permission to do the interrogation myself, but I should be able to allow sis access as well._
> 
> _**Ren:** ICU, huh…_
> 
> _**Haru:** Ren, it was either them, or they kidnap Futaba. You did the right thing._
> 
> _**Sae:** She’s right; you acted in self-defense._
> 
> _**Sae:** Makoto, I will come meet you in a couple of hours to question the suspect._
> 
> _**Makoto:** Understood, sis._
> 
> _**Haru:** Please keep the chat posted with any news, all of you!_

“… We’re caught up.” Was all Ann could manage to get out once she hit the bottom of the chat.

“When was the last message sent?”

“Looks like about an hour ago.”

Ryuji leaned his head on the wall behind the bed and stared at the ceiling. “Holy shit… This is effin messed up…”

Ann couldn’t find words to reply with. It was very messed up. Her thoughts tried to form something more coherent, but when she opened her mouth, all that came out was a hoarse “Huh…”

Ryuji looked down from the ceiling and hugged Ann tightly from the side, rubbing her shoulder opposite to him. Slowly, Ann shifted to face him, and she buried her face into his neck.

The pair were quiet for a few minutes, except for the sound of Ann’s slightly off-kilter breathing.

“That… that could’ve been me this morning. But Ren wouldn’t be here...”

Ryuji pushed Ann back so he could look at her directly. “What?”

Ann couldn’t meet his own gaze, instead looking down at the bedsheets.

Ryuji’s narrowed, studying Ann’s face, before they widened in realization of what she was referring to.

“Look, thinkin’ about the past, or what coulda happened, isn’t gonna do you any good, will it? What’s done is done. Instead, you could just, ya know, maybe put your thoughts towards why this is happening to us and how we’re gonna deal with it?”

A long sigh escaped from Ann. “I suppose you’re right… We do need to figure out what the hell is going on. Two of us are targeted indirectly, and then two attempted kidnappings?”

“Yeah, this shit is fishy as hell.”

He paused, shifting a little uncomfortably.

“Hey Ann, do ya want me to stay with you for awhile? Just to, ya know, protect you and stuff?”

Ryuji felt a little awkward saying it, but was soon relieved to see Ann flash a small smile at him.

“I’d like that, Ryuji. Now, forget about all our plans today. We’re gonna go see Futaba.”

“I was gonna say the same thing.”

\----------

Ren hated the waiting.

He hated waiting at streetlights as he transported Futaba to Yongen, even if he took his Honda Civic and drove across the city like a maniac. He didn’t want to wait for an ambulance, either. Especially when putting Futaba in the hospital would mean her being on an official record. And with the Phantom Thieves about to come back in full, lawbreaking force, none of them need records anywhere.

He hated the time it took for Tae to examine Futaba. While it was relieving to find out that she didn’t have any permanent damage or something severe, he couldn’t help but agonize over every single minute that he and Morgana (who Ren at first didn’t realize came with Makoto down to Futaba’s apartment) sat in the waiting room in silence.

And he hated waiting for Futaba to wake up.

Morgana lay next to the girl, curled up next to an arm. Ren sat on the opposite side, occasionally stroking her arm in worry as if it would suddenly wake her. Thankfully, there was no IV drip nor monitors hooked up - Tae said the girl’s lack of physical strength was all it was, and there was no need for extra equipment. She just needed to rest.

For a brief second, Ren thought back to the summer Futaba stopped “Medjed”, where she rested for a whole two weeks before making her sudden appearance at Leblanc. Except this time, she had a concussion and staples in her head.

And also, this time they almost killed two people.

Despite everything, that might have scared Ren the most. The way that Futaba plunged her knife into the back of one of them, seemingly without second thought. The audible _crack_ he heard when he kneed the other in the face as his head hit the kitchen tile floor. Hell, he might even have _died_ from that. Ren knew nothing about the status of Futaba’s two assailants who were hurt.

And the two of them - Ren and Futaba, that is - did everything as if it were second nature. These were _real human beings_ they almost killed, and they acted as if they were fighting shadows. Those two, however malicious their intent was, might have had families they were providing for. Loved ones to come home to. And he might have separated that from them.

A shaky breath came out of the boy. The team would need to have a serious discussion about the importance of human life - and to ensure they don’t take it - very soon.

Fortunately, his phone buzzed before he could spiral too deep into a train of thought he didn’t want to entertain right now.

> _**Ann:** Ryuji and I caught up with everything going on. We’re pulling into Yongen right now. How’s Futaba?_

Ren glanced up at the sleeping girl in front of him.

> _**Ren:** Still asleep._

Fortunately, no sooner had he sent that text than when she began to stir.

Ren immediately pocketed his phone and leaned forward in his seat, his breath hitching. Behind him, he could hear a “hmm?” sound from Tae, who had been making notes at her desk. She quickly rose and stood beside Ren as Futaba’s eyes fluttered open.

Ren heaved a huge sigh of relief. “Futaba!” He grabbed one of her hands, holding it tightly.

The redhead lazily blinked, looking at the two people next to her bed.

“I’m… sorry… But who are you two?”

\----------

“AMNESIA?! FOR REAL?!”

Ryuji’s booming voice filled the waiting room of the clinic.

Ann gasped and put a hand to her mouth, eyes as wide open as they could be.

Tae leaned against the doorframe to the exam room, where Futaba was continuing to get rest.

“Yup. The good news is that she only suffered mild trauma, relatively speaking. Amnesia due to mild trauma is quite temporary, and she will eventually regain her memories. The bad news is that there’s nothing I can really do to help her - amnesia doesn’t have a surefire medical cure.”

“Are you for real?! Then what the hell are we supposed to do? How long does it last?”

Tae shook her head. “The time varies. It can be within an hour, a day, a week, but normally it’s not much longer than that. It can be sped up through attempts to jog the patient’s memory. It’s not guaranteed, but perhaps if you find something that’s very important to her, it may help.”

Despite normally being hard to read and good at hiding emotion, she was subtly biting the inside of her cheek. Ren sat in a seat next to the doctor, his eyes held fast on the ground and completely devoid of emotion. Sojiro, who had been alerted shortly after Futaba waking up, was pacing in circles, hands in his head, still trying to process the events that had transpired so far that morning.

Sojiro did make a brief appearance to the girl to try to jog her memory, but she was unresponsive to her adoptive father. Shortly after, she announced that she was feeling tired, so Tae told her to sleep on the patient bed while the rest of the party headed out into the waiting room. When they exited, they were surprised to see Ann and Ryuji already there, anxiety ridden on their faces.

“Hey, pipe down, numbskull. You’ll wake up Futaba!” Morgana growled at Ryuji from his position in the seat next to Ren.

Ryuji sighed, his normal fighting spirit nowhere to be found. “I-I’m sorry, I just… Not only was she almost kidnapped, but she…” His voice trailed off as he shook his head. “Shit ain’t fair on her, I can’t help but be angry at it all.”

“I get what you mean, Ryuji.” Ann muttered. “Why does Futaba have to go through all this? Why does she have to suffer, even after she’s already been through so much?” Her thoughts drifted to Makoto, so she added, “Hell, why do _any_ of us still have to suffer after what we’ve gone through?”

Her question was met with the sound of Sojiro’s fist slamming into a nearby wall. “This is all my fault! If I kept her at home instead of moving out, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Chief, you know for a fact that that isn’t necessarily true. These guys could have come to your house, or even Leblanc. In fact, they may have even scouted out the place if they were gathering intel on Futaba.” Morgana chided, making use of his new avenue of communication with the coffee shop owner.

“But I could have protected her! Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if I was there for her!”

Ren visibly winced upon hearing the remark.

Morgana noticed, which made him even angrier. “Like you would’ve done a better job fighting off 3 goons than Ren could! He risked his life and fought tooth and nail to save Futaba and all you can do is mope about it? Be thankful he was even awake at the time! Be thankful Futaba is even _here_ with us in the first place, and not held hostage somewhere else!”

Sojiro’s pacing stopped, and silence fell upon the room. Tae’s brow furrowed as her eyes whipped between Sojiro and Morgana in utter confusion.

“...He’s right. It’s my fault this happened to her.” Ren’s voice was barely above that of a whisper, and all heads turned to him.

“Dude… You got there as fast as you could. I don’t think things would’ve been any different if you somehow got there quicker.” Ryuji offered.

“And how do you know that?”

Ryuji blinked. “Huh?”

“How can you be so sure of that? What if I got there earlier, before they hadn’t entered the apartment? Futaba wouldn’t have gotten hurt then!” Ren’s voice rose from a whisper to something akin to half-shouting as he spoke.

Morgana hopped into the raven-haired boy’s lap, staring straight into his eyes. “You moron, you got there as soon as you could! You think Futaba would’ve known people were trying to break in until they actually did so? She pressed the panic button as soon as she realized what was going on, and you got there extremely quickly! So stop blaming yourself for everything!”

**Your comrade speaks the truth, Trickster. You acted to the best of your abilities under the circumstances.**

With even Arsene speaking up, Ren had to relent. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry… I just… I want to protect all of you. And I failed to do so this morning.”

Ann wordlessly got up, moving to the other side of the room to sit down next to Ren.

“You know… Back then, I always blamed myself for not being able to protect Shiho from Kamoshida.” She started, which caused Ren to look up and at her. Ann noticed tears threatening the corners of his eyes.

She continued. “But you told me that there are some things we can’t control. Kamoshida had the upper hand in the situation; there wasn’t much we could have done about it. The only reason we were actually able to do something was because of the Met-” She glanced at Tae. “Us being the Phantom Thieves. And we can’t do what we used to do anymore.”

Ren sighed. He knew she was right. It’s just…

“I wish I could protect everyone...” He croaked out hoarsely, a tear streaming down his cheek.

Ann felt her heart break even more than when she witnessed Makoto’s outburst only a few days ago.To continue to see everyone she loved so much being hurt like this…

She pulled his head into her upper chest in a protective hug with one arm, and rubbed his back with the other. She bit her lower lip in worry, then looked down to kiss his forehead gingerly.

“I know, Ren. I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are definitely heating up here! Poor Futaba though, she can't seem to catch a break :/
> 
> I honestly don't have much to comment on or talk about with this chapter. So, I'm interested to hear your thoughts about the situation unfolding.


	14. Senpai!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by the 2 hour extended edition of the new palace's theme. Seriously, the theme is so good. It gets me in a perfect writing zone.

_ Who the heck are all these people again? _

She sat in a booth by herself at a cafe called Leblanc, staring blankly at the numerous faces surrounding her seat. She decided to do a little mental checklist to confirm what she knew so far.

_ Ok, so… The old guy in the pink shirt is apparently my adoptive dad. And the fluffy black haired boy is my brother. Weird though, we look nothing alike. And my name is… ______.  _

_ Shit, I can’t even register it… What was my name again? _

She shifted uncomfortably as she stared at everyone else, who claimed to be both friends of hers, and partners in crime - literally.

_ I committed crimes? I mean, I don’t like the police, but I did crimes with them? What sort of crimes? _

The girl thought about asking, but for now, she was very uncomfortable being the center of attention.

“Hey, whatever happened to personal space?”

The group of people awkwardly shuffled backwards, away from her booth. The fluffy boy, who was apparently named Ren, motioned for everyone to step aside and talk. Shrugging to herself, she opened up her laptop that was given to her not too long ago, and began browsing its files.

_ I feel fine, but I guess I don’t remember much right now. Maybe they’re telling the truth. But, Phantom Thieves? Stealing hearts? What a load of imaginary bull. It’s probs a prank. _

She stole a quick glance over at fluffy boy, who noticed and flashed a small, sad smile. She averted her gaze immediately, looking back at her laptop. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she found a program called ‘Ren’s Phone’. Cocking her lips to one side, she risked another glance at fluffy boy, who didn’t notice this time around.

_ Fluffy boy is Ren, right? He claimed to not only be my brother, but also the leader of these Phantom Thieves. Maybe I’ll find some answers here… _

She opened the program and began sifting through its contents.

\----------

“No. She is  _ not _ going to a hospital. End of story.”

Ren’s tone was hushed, but firm. 

On the other hand, Sae’s voice was louder, but calmer. “Ren, she needs medical attention. She should remain in medical care until her memories return, and she should get a serious look at the crack in her head.”

“I agree with the lady,” Sojiro stood next to Sae, a hand on his hip. “She needs a professional to get a good look at the crack in her head.”

“Tae  _ is  _ a professional!” Ren snapped back a little too harshly, causing both older people to recoil. He sighed, closing his eyes. “Look, she’s a criminal and a Phantom Thief. We can’t just take her somewhere like a public hospital.”

“Ren’s right.” Morgana said from his perch on a high chair. “We don’t want to put ourselves under surveillance when we can help it.”

“But this is different! Futaba isn’t a wanted criminal anymore, and nobody knows she’s a Phantom Thief.” Sojiro cried out, his concern for his daughter evident.

“Ok, so we’ll just give the hospital all her information, and then once we make our comeback as Phantom Thieves, they’ll already have all her info if they make a connection. What then?” Ren retorted, slight annoyance in his voice. 

“Tae is a good doctor. She treated Ren when he was half-beaten to death. I’m sure whatever complications may arise from this, she’ll be able to handle. And more importantly, she keeps our secrets.” Makoto said matter-of-factly, standing next to Ren. “If we want to protect all of us, we  _ all _ have to keep a low profile.”

Sojiro grunted, tightening his jaw. Ren did admire the protectiveness of his daughter, but he wasn’t a Phantom Thief. As cheesy as it sounds, Sojiro wouldn’t get it.

“...Alright. Makes sense, I guess. She better heal soon, though.”

Oh. Maybe he would, then.

“She’ll heal just as quickly here as she would anywhere else if all she needs is rest.” Haru said softly, eyeing the redhead. “And perhaps her memories would return quicker if she was somewhere that matters to her, even if she doesn’t remember it.”

“That’s a solid point. We’ll leave her with Sojiro for now - it would be best for both her memory, and her safety.” Sae remarked. “Although, we should have somebody stay with the Sakuras, as an extra layer of protection. And before you volunteer, Ren, it can’t be you. The kidnappers would likely recognize you in the area and realize that Futaba may be nearby.”

Ren frowned, shot down before he could even offer to help.

“Ann and I can stay.” Ryuji piped up, and Ann nodded in agreement.

“Yeah! Two is better than one, after all. We’ll just need to head back to the apartment to grab stuff for a few nights' stay.”

Makoto gave a thumbs-up. “Good. You two can also actively try to help Futaba regain her memories. In the meantime though... “ She flashed a grin, excitement evident on her face. “We have a mission.”

“For real? I shoulda waited to hear the rest of it!” Ryuji complained, which earned a slap on the shoulder from Ann.

“Hush, you. We’ll have other missions to go on, I’m sure!”

“Ann is correct, I am sure there will be many sorties in our escapades as Phantom Thieves.” Yusuke added. “But, my curiosity is piqued at this mention of a ‘mission’. What is this mission that you speak of?”

Makoto’s grin widened. “We’re going to infiltrate a nightclub.”

Silence and quizzical looks followed in the next moment.

“So, uhh… y’all are gonna go dancing in a nightclub? Not much of a mission, really.” Ryuji commented with a light chuckle.

“Well, I didn’t get to the second part yet, which is: this nightclub is rumored to have ties to the people who attempted to kidnap Futaba - namely through yakuza.”

Ren’s eyes went wide. “Hold on a second. Our first mission after 6 years is to infiltrate a yakuza-owned nightclub? We wouldn’t last a minute if things went south if we’re up against  _ yakuza! _ ”

“Apparently, this yakuza faction has only very recently started up. They are still relatively weak, and I believe we should be able to handle it. As much as I would love to turn them over to the police, Makoto and I also believe they are affiliated with the commissioner. He would protect them, no doubt.” Sae sighed, her eyes towards the floor.

“I’m not surprised to hear they may be correlated, but how did you determine that?” Morgana flicked his tail back and forth.

“Don’t underestimate the power of the Niijima duo.” Ren muttered under his breath. “Speaking from experience…”

Morgana snickered. “Well, I know that, but how did you get so much information? Did that goon tell you all this?”

“He didn’t, but he certainly didn’t anticipate for me to have this in my posession.” Sae cracked a smile as she held up the usb Futaba gave her yesterday. “It seems this flash drive not only holds files for current cops, but ex-cops too. He’s one of them. The file says he’s part of this very new and upcoming ‘Yiga clan’, and we managed to trace activity to a nightclub called Paradise.”

“So, to sum everything up…” Haru began, her index finger placed over her lips. “A former cop who the commissioner apparently knows and has files on attempted to kidnap Futaba. He’s also a member of a new up and coming yakuza faction which seems to have popped up almost overnight, and their base of operations is a nightclub called Paradise? And you want to infiltrate it to look for links between the commissioner and this clan?”

“Correct. Although I doubt it’s their base of operations. It’s most likely a hotspot of sorts. There may not be any high-ranking officers there, but we have to start somewhere.” Makoto mused. “And I know that going after this new yakuza clan might seem off the trail, but it’ll be easier to find a link to the commissioner through the yakuza than the police.”

“No, it makes sense. Police would be much harder to go after, given societal standards.” Ren sighed, slipping his hands in his jean pockets as he leaned against the counter. “So, the idea is to find a big enough connection to be able to make the evidence known to the public, which would cause such a big scandal that the commissioner would have to step down?”

Sae and Makoto both nodded in response.

“Oh my, I like that idea very much! It’s not quite as flashy as having a target confess their own crimes, but causing a big scandal for the adults in charge is our style!” Haru almost bounced up and down in excitement. “Can I go on this mission please?”

“Wouldn’t a big shot like you make people wary?” Ryuji crossed his arms, cocking his head to the side. “You would probably create too much attention on yourself.”

Haru shook her head. “People know the name Okumura foods, but people are ignorant. Few know a woman runs it. And even fewer know what I look like. As long as I don’t announce my name, I will be fine.”

Ren agreed with the logic. “Seems fair to me. So, while Ann and Ryuji stay with Futaba and Morgana, the rest of us will go to the nightclub?”

“Hey, hold on a second! Why can’t I go?” Morgana whined, pawing at Ren’s arm.

“Because you’re a cat, Morgana. Cats aren’t allowed in nightclubs.” Ren said, placing his hand on his head.

“No, I actually think Morgana could be useful. He could sneak around the back of the club and see if he can overhear or maybe even see something worth noting.” Makoto held a finger up. “He could also be our eyes and ears, given our usual navigator is… out of commission at the moment.”

Ann giggled. “So what, you’re gonna put a bluetooth headset on him so he can radio in any trouble?”

Ren smirked, snapping his fingers. “You joke, but that actually sounds like a pretty good idea. Just don’t meow so loud you give yourself away, ok?”

Morgana held up a paw in a cat-salute. “You can count on me, Joker!”

The cat earned some scratches behind his ears as Ren spoke again. “So, it seems me, Morgana, Makoto, Sae, Yusuke, and Haru will infiltrate the nightclub. Not counting Morgana (“Hey!”), there’s 5 of us. We can easily pass that off as friends on a night out, so getting in should be relatively easy. From there, it might be easiest to split up, or at least in groups of two, and look around for any sort of source of information. Meanwhile, Morgana can snoop around the back and let us know if he comes across anything particularly interesting. 

We don’t really know what to expect, so if something happens in there, we’re gonna have to improvise. Considering today is Monday, and most nightclubs wouldn’t normally be populated until the weekend, I think it would be a good idea for all of us to brush up on hand-to-hand combat. Aside from Makoto, I imagine that we’re all pretty rusty, so using the next several days to re-hone our skills is probably the best course of action. In addition, we should also practice our old weapons - they may prove useful if the situation gets too dicey.”

Sae leaned in next to Makoto and whispered, “Is this what he was like back when he was the leader of the old Phantom Thieves?”

Makoto thought for a second before whispering back, frowning, “He would get like this when our safety was on the line. I think he must be taking Futaba's amnesia pretty hard…"

Ren had continued talking, so the duo turned their attention back to him “...But I won’t allow it unless it’s truly a life or death situation. Under no circumstances will there be any killing unless it’s an  _ absolute last resort, _ understood?”

All the thieves nodded with solemn faces, except for Haru, who looked more disappointed than anything else.

Ren set his hands on his hips. “Good. Now, the next order of business: dealing with the police about Futaba’s attempted kidnapping. How are we going to handle that, considering I imagine the police will want to question her?”

Upon hearing this, both Makoto and Sae shared a look, frowning. “They actually didn’t even ask about the victim after they realized she was gone. I think… they didn’t want to complicate things for them. Having Futaba involved with an investigation may make it harder for their men to walk free, so when the victim herself isn’t even around to testify, it just makes things easier.”

“Those rat bastards… Just how corrupt are the police?!” Ryuji growled, stomping his feet at the ground.

Makoto winced. “I’m not sure how I didn’t notice this earlier. But then again, I feel like all this happened so suddenly, as if a wave is splashing across the force and swallowing everyone up. At this rate, I don’t think it’ll be much longer until more of the police are corrupted than not. And to think I looked up to the police force so much...” Makoto drooped her shoulders, her face a mix of angry and sad.

“Mako-chan…” Haru began, but couldn’t find the right words to finish.

Ren bit his lower lip, but relaxed slightly as he watched as Sae wrapped an arm around her sister and squeezed. Having them together - and on the same side, no less - would help them both out emotionally, and he was thankful for it. 

Noticing that the discussion seemed to have run its course for the day, Ren spoke up to end the meeting. “Alright, it seems we have a plan of action. Throughout the week, please try to get the rust off with hand to hand combat, as well as your weapon. We might not be able to take anything into the nightclub with us, but think of it as preparing for future missions. Also, try to become proficient with a knife, since it’ll be a pretty common weapon we’ll face, and therefore may have to pick up and use when we can. This goes for all of you, by the way. Ann and Ryuji, you two will need training too - there will be more missions than just the nightclub.

Since I have nothing going on, I’ll be happy to help everyone out with knife skills - just let me know when you’re free. Sae, since you’re new to this, I’ll give you some extra lessons. I know you’re proficient in kickboxing, but you’ll need more than just that to excel as a thief. As for right now, Ryuji and Ann, go and get your things. Makoto, Morgana and I will stay here with Futaba until you two get back.” 

Ren paused briefly as he scanned everyone’s faces. “And lastly, let us vote. Are there any objections to our current mission we will be undertaking this weekend?”

He was met with silence, which made him smile.

“All right! I’m looking forward to getting back into the thief business! It’s been far too long!” Morgana puffed out his chest, his tail wagging like a dog’s would.

“Uhh… did that cat just talk?”

Nearly everybody jumped at Futaba’s voice, who seemed to be finished with whatever she was doing on her computer and now paying attention to the current conversation.

“Yeah I did! You got a problem with that?” Morgana held steadfast, which earned a glare from Ren.

Futaba shook her head. “Nah, not really. Actually, you’re not the first talking cat- wait. I knew a talking cat… before?” She shook her head again, clutching it within her hands. 

“Really? Do you remember its name?” Morgana bounced from his position on his chair, landing on Futaba’s booth table.

“I… I don’t, sorry… It just… It didn’t feel weird because it feels so familiar, like something I’m used to… But I can’t remember anything!”

Ren choked back a soft sob, which didn’t go unnoticed by the Niijima sisters.

The cat’s expression fell, and he sat back on his hind legs. “I see… Well, that’s ok, don’t feel bad about it. Hopefully you can remember soon.”

Futaba looked up from her hands, her eyes brimming with tears. “I hope so too, kitty.”

\----------

“So he’s still blaming himself for this?” Sae asked Makoto as she poured her a cup of tea, a slight frown on her face.

“Unfortunately, yes. It’s what he tends to do. And like I said, it’s why he was so serious about our nightclub mission.”

“He takes on so much responsibility for himself. More than he needs to. Does he not trust everybody with their roles as his comrades?” 

Makoto shook her head, a hint of a smile showing. “Oh no, he trusts us more than anything. It’s just… If one of us gets hurt, he takes it personally. And while it’s touching how much he cares about all of us, it can also be his undoing. If it weren’t for me keeping him in line, he’d be rushing off into situations he couldn’t get out of all the time.”

The two women laughed lightly at Makoto’s quip, but soon silence befell the room again.

While Ren (and Morgana) were out with Yusuke and Ryuji, brushing up on their hand to hand combat and tactics, Makoto decided to drop by her old apartment to pay Sae a visit. She still hadn’t moved out, even though Makoto had since long been gone to college dorms, her own place, then Ren’s. The defense attorney claimed that she liked having the extra bedroom in case guests were ever over, but the fact that Makoto’s room had remained largely untouched told the younger sister a different story.

Sighing, Sae picked up the TV remote and turned it on, idly flipping through the channels. “I still fear for him, though. It’s an admirable quality, caring so much for those close to you, but it can also get you in a lot of trouble as well. I know he’s been through a lot and can handle just as much, but... “

She paused as she reached a sports channel, which was showing a gymnastics competition.

“But you worry about him getting into something he can’t get out of without his Metaverse powers?” Makoto finished for her.

“Precisely. And, well… At this point, I consider him family. And I do worry about my family.” Another pause as her eyes moved to the floor. “Or what’s left of it, at least.”

Makoto silently looked at Sae before getting up from her seat to plop down next to her sister. She reached around and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her close. “You’re worried about losing more family, aren’t you…”

Sae was quiet for a little while before answering. “Not just you or Ren, but anybody. You all have shown me so much over the past years. Heh, I feel like you’ve taught me more than the other way around. And look at me now, being consoled. The older sister normally has these responsibilities, doesn’t she?”

“Maybe you’re right. But sis, we aren’t even close to the definition of normal; whatever that may be. You had to grow up quickly to provide for the both of us, and I am extremely grateful for that. You taught me to be diligent, hardworking, and efficient. Sure, our relationship may not have been the most healthy, but we repaired it.-”

“ _ You _ repaired it. I hardly contributed to that at all…” Sae interrupted with another sigh.

Makoto squeezed her shoulder. “Even if that’s the case, any relationship is a two-way street. It’s impossible to do everything by yourself. It’s similar to my relationship with the Phantom Thieves. They helped me open my eyes, and in turn I helped you open yours. I would have never been able to repair our relationship if not for them. And I was - or now it’s I  _ am again _ , I suppose - their strategist. Relationships are about what you can offer to each other, not obligations that keep you in place.”

Sae said nothing, but turned her head to hold Makoto’s gaze. They locked eyes for a few seconds before a sad smile crossed her face. “You’re right.” She reached up with a hand to pat her head. “I’m so proud of how you grew up, Makoto. You have really become an amazing young woman.”

Makoto blushed, releasing Sae from her side-hug. “Siiis, you’re gonna embarrass me!”

“But there’s nobody here to be embarrassed in front of!”

Makoto huffed and leaned back on the couch, returning her attention to the TV. The gymnastics competition seemed to have just ended, and they were interviewing the last contestant : A shorter-looking girl with long, red hair held up in a ponytail.

_ “Yoshizawa-san,” _ The interviewer began, a bright smile on her face.  _ “You’ve come close many times, but the scores are in and now you’ve finally done it! How does it feel to finally win a worldwide gymnastics tournament?” _

The girl named Yoshizawa was breathing heavily from her routine, but she was all smiles. _ “It feels amazing! All of my hard work has finally paid off, and all my second and third place finishes made this one feel that much sweeter.” _

“Hmm… She looks kind of familiar.” Makoto mused, a hand on her chin.

“Is that so? Perhaps you saw her around your university campus?” Sae offered, her head cocked to one side as she watched Yoshizawa answer another question.

_ “The first person I would like to thank is my sister. She always gave me the inspiration to carry on, and while she can’t win herself anymore, I know that she’s with me in my heart. I’d also like to thank a senpai of mine, who also doubles as my mental coach. He was the person who helped me get back on my feet and back into the world of gymnastics.” _

_ “How interesting! So you have both a gymnastics coach and a mental coach? Is your mental coach a therapist of sorts?” _

Yoshizawa shook her head, her smile brightening.  _ “Oh, he’s nothing of the sort, but he’s the closest thing that I currently have to a therapist, I suppose. Like I said, he’s a very good friend of mine who helped me out of my slump and into my training mindset again. I know he’s watching right now, too! Thank you so much, senpai! I hope we continue to take the gymnastics world by storm!” _

_ “How lovely! Thank you very much to Yoshizawa’s senpai indeed, you did a great job helping her to the top!”  _ The interviewer cheerfully said as she bowed to Yoshizawa.  _ “Congratulations again, and enjoy the medal ceremony!” _

Yoshizawa nodded, thanked the interviewer, and left the frame. The broadcast cut back to a studio to discuss the performances, but Sae reached up to turn off the TV instead.

“She spoke about her sister in the past tense... I’m glad that she looks to be in a better place. She seems like a very bright girl now.” Sae smiled, her own thoughts thinking of how her situation wasn’t all too different from Makoto’s way back when, in a way.

“Indeed. But I still can’t place where I saw her exactly…”

Makoto looked down at her tea. “I completely forgot that I made tea for us - it’s probably stone cold by now. Want me to make a fresh batch, sis?”

“Sure, that would be lovely.”

Makoto hesitated before getting up. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes and sighed.

“Sis... There’s something that I want to talk to you about.” 

\----------

_ “Thank you so much, senpai! I hope we continue to take the gymnastics world by storm!” _

“Duuude, she’s cute as hell. I feel lucky for her senpai!”

“How intriguing. Shall I tell Ann about your opinions on this girl, Ryuji?”

“H-Hell no! Plus, I’m allowed to call a girl cute, even when I have my own girlfriend, aren’t I?”

Ren could hear the exchange going on, but he wasn’t paying much attention to it. He smiled at the TV that hung in the training room at a special gym that Haru had bought out a while back for her and the other thieves to perform more… explicit exercises when normal workout routines were boring them.

There were a lot of training dummies which had been split in half by an axe.

“Yo, Ren, you’ve been watching that girl on the TV ever since she first showed up. You got a crush or somethin’?” Ryuji stabbed a knife into a training dummy and walked over to his friend, smacking him on the back with a chuckle.

Ren was about to answer, but then he heard his phone ring from his gym bag. Morgana, who had been lazing about on top of it, reached in with two paws and dug it out for him to pick up, chuckling once he saw the caller ID.

“Hel-”

_ “SENPAI I DID IT! I FINALLY DID IT!” _

Ren chuckled. “So you did. I saw the whole thing.”

_ “I’m so glad you were able to see it live! I put all my heart and soul into it, and my mind wasn’t even focused on my routine. I was thinking of both you and her, and it put me into the most clear mindset I’ve ever been in!” _

Ryuji, who had been close enough to just about hear Ren’s caller’s voice and words, felt his mouth hang open.

Ren ignored him. “I’m glad that she and I could help you. I know for a fact that she’s smiling right now - she couldn’t be prouder of you for achieving your dream.”

_ “And you’re proud of me too, right senpai?” _

“Of course I am! I’m extremely proud of how far you’ve come. Oh, and I appreciated the shoutout you gave me. I haven’t been much else but a sounding board, but I’m glad that I could help.” He said louder than needed deliberately, so both other boys could hear him.

Upon hearing this, Yusuke narrowed his eyes, adopting a quizzical look, and joined Ryuji as people who were utterly shocked by the turn of events. Meanwhile, Morgana was snickering from his place on the gym bag.

_ “That’s not true - you’ve been an immense help. My gymnastics career wouldn’t exist if not for you! Anyway, I have to go soon for the medal ceremony, but I wanted to call you between my performance and then. And by the way, I’m coming back to Tokyo next week to take some time off. Would you be interested in meeting up?” _

“You bet. We’ll get back in touch once things settle down and figure something out. Sound good?”

_ “Yes! Oh, I’m so excited to celebrate my victory with you, senpai! It’ll be- oh, they’re telling me to get off the phone so I gotta go, bye!” _

She hung up before Ren could say anything in response.

The room was silent for several seconds.

“DUDE, when did you even-”

Ren waved his hand, cutting Ryuji off. “Your knife stab into that dummy was sloppy. Let me show you how it’s done properly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unexpected character time! I won't say much, except this: We're following P5 canon, not P5R canon. So, in this fic there was never a palace owned by [spoiler here] in January. Ren turned himself in on Christmas and was released just before Valentines, as per usual. That being said, obviously I'm still pulling stuff from Royal. I know that means it's not like, ultra-canon, but hey, this is a fanfic and I can allow myself to have some fun with it, right?
> 
> Fun fact: I've always had a headcanon that Haru has a gym where she just destroys stuff with an axe when she gets angry so I'm happy I got to make it a reality here.


	15. Phoenix

> **_Ren:_ ** _So, still nothing?_
> 
> **_Ann:_ ** _Nope :( She sometimes will have fits where she tries to remember something, but can’t make any progress on her own memories. Kinda like what happened with Morgana the other day._

Ren placed his phone on the coffee table and held his head in his hands. Next to him, Makoto gently rubbed his back.

She sighed. He had been like this all week while at home, probably since they would pass Futaba’s floor every time they entered or left their complex. She didn’t think she had ever seen Ren get this way for a period more than a day. It worried her.

It also didn’t help that as per Sae’s insistence, Ren was not to visit Futaba, lest he would be followed, or worse. While Makoto knew that Sae’s primary interest was to keep everyone safe, it was evident to the younger sister how much it tore up Ren. As somebody who was always there for his comrades, having to do the opposite proved to be extremely difficult; even if the reasoning was to ensure as much safety as possible.

Heaving out a huge sigh, Ren hoisted himself up from the couch, picking up his phone in the process. Makoto allowed her hand to fall off his back, but stood up with him to continue reading the conversation taking place.

> **_Ren:_ ** _We’re not getting anywhere like this. Have you tried showing her text histories from our group chats?_
> 
> **_Ann:_ ** _Of course I have! And even though the proof is right there, she still doesn’t have all her memories back. Although the good news is that since we have so much proof to show her in the first place, she’s finally accepted who we are and what we are to her._
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _Well, that’s great news! But it sounds like she doesn’t remember anything herself?_
> 
> **_Ann:_ ** _Yeah :/ And you know how she is - the only reason she believes us now is because of the years of evidence we have. It would’ve been impossible without it._
> 
> **_Ann:_ ** _But enough of that, Ren. You need to get focused - aren’t you all going to the nightclub tonight?_
> 
> **_Ren:_ ** _Yeah, Makoto’s nudging me to get off my phone. We’ll update you two later on._
> 
> **_Ann:_ ** _Good luck! I know you guys can do it - I’m rooting for you!_

Ren pocketed his phone and looked at Makoto, who was lightly pushing his shoulder. “C’mon, we need to get ready. Everyone is going to be here in 30 minutes.”

“Right, right. Sheesh, nightclub attire is not my normal wear. What do you even wear to a nightclub, anyways?”

Makoto hummed as they made their way to their room. “Well, it’s a nightclub in a seedier part of town, and it belongs to yakuza. So, probably something punkish? Anything nice-looking would most likely make us stand out.”

“Punkish, huh…” Ren mused as they reached their shared closet, throwing it open. 

“Oho, you guys are going in punk clothes? Why not use the ones that you bought to go to that dance party a couple of years ago? Those would work pretty well!” Morgana called out from his sleeping spot on the bed, stretching.

Ren made a ‘not bad’ face. “That could actually work pretty well. Those outfits have a pretty punky feel, don’t they?”

“Mmmm… I suppose they do…” Makoto brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Ren smirked. “I know you didn’t like that outfit a ton. But we’ll stick out like a sore thumb unless we wear something similar to the clientele’s attire.”

Makoto dropped her head and looked at him, as if she were looking over the rims of imaginary glasses. “You’re also hiding the fact that you think I look good in that outfit.” She smiled when Ren blushed slightly.

“Guilty as charged. Anyway, let’s change so we-” He was cut off by the doorbell ringing.

“Huh, we aren’t supposed to meet up yet… Is it somebody else?”

Morgana hopped off the bed, making his way out the room. “I’ll go check, you two get changed.”

Ren nodded in response as Makoto pulled out their outfits, looking at them. “...Wow, we both really like black and red.”

“Well, that _is_ our trademark color scheme.”

Makoto smiled to herself as she tossed Ren his outfit, before getting a good look at her own. It wasn’t exactly her normal attire, but she wouldn’t deny her slight excitement to wear it again. The shirt was black, short-sleeved, and tattered in certain spots. Deliberate stitching lined the holes, and darker splotches of black periodically decorated elsewhere. The red high-top shoes added a little bit to her height, but what really accentuated her lower half were her thigh-high stockings that hung onto her blood red-colored skirt via garters.

As Makoto fashioned her chains and belt around her waist, she looked over at Ren as he dressed. His outfit was very similar to hers in color: a black shirt that said “DANCE” on it in white, blocky letters, a black jacket with red buttons, and similar looking blood red shoes. The difference was that his pants were black jeans, as opposed to red. The jeans had some holes dotted along the legs, and around his side hung a metal chain.

“You’re biting your lower lip. Do try to contain yourself.” Ren’s voice was fully playful as he cheekily winked.

Makoto felt her face turn beet red. She didn’t even realize she was biting her lip, let alone staring. “O-Oh, is that so? W-Well… I suppose I’d be lying if I said you didn’t look good in that outfit…”

“And I may say the same to you. I hope we enjoy ourselves tonight, then.” Ren smirked, popping the lapels of his jacket in a flashy way.

“If you two are done ogling each other, come on out. Sae’s here.” Morgana’s voice was heard on the other side of their bedroom door.

The two exchanged glances and a nod before heading out into the main room.

“Sis, you’re early! We weren’t expecting you so… soon…” Her voice trailed off once she got a look at her sister’s getup.

Sae’s outfit was relatively simple, but Makoto had _never_ seen her sister ever wear such clothing. She wore a white crop top that just about showed her belly button, the edges of the shirt frayed and jagged. Black leather leggings rose all the way up in a high-waist fashion, complete with a studded black belt and even a spiked choker around her neck. She wore black boots which had a few inches of heels on them, making the already tall woman tower over the two others in the room. And to finish the ensemble, her normally down hair was half in a ponytail, half scattered around the front and one side of her head in a deliberate haphazard way.

Makoto heard Ren cough.

She wheeled around on him to see a slightly pink tint on his cheeks. Before she could open her mouth and lay into him, Sae instead spoke up.

“In all fairness, he hadn’t seen me dressed like this before. We’re going to a seedy nightclub, I need to look the part.”

In response, Ren awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Yeah… I mean, I’ve seen you in pajamas, swimsuits, etcetera, but this is… not your normal style. It looks good on you, though.”

“Umm, _excuse me?”_ Makoto all but snarled, the Niijima glare at full force.

“H-Hey, I’m allowed to compliment somebody, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, but it’s a different story when it’s my _sister!”_

“Why are you so worked up about that? We’ve hung out with your sister countless times, and it’s not like she only wears her business suit!”

Despite everything, Sae found herself laughing. “You two may be pretty competent people, but both of you can be so socially awkward sometimes.” She looked towards Ren, nodding. “Compliments are normal, so thank you for the compliment.”

This made Makoto’s cheeks match Ren’s current color. How could they have accomplished so much, yet still be so socially awkward sometimes?

Sae walked over and patted Makoto on her head, changing the subject. “I am aware that I’m early, but that was deliberate. This is my first mission as a Phantom Thief - I need to make a good first impression, do I not?”

Ren shrugged, happy to move on from the previous conversation. “I’ve known you long enough that something like that isn’t necessary even if you’re officially one of us now, but that sounds just like you.”

With the last minute put behind them, Makoto set a small smile on her face. “Well, shall I make some tea while we wait?”

“Sounds good, but I need to grab something from our room real quick. Be right back.” Ren said as he made his way back to their bedroom.

Makoto nodded in response, then turned to Sae. “Well sis, in addition to some tea, I think it would be a good idea to run by our mission once again, and how our group operates.”

\----------

“It’s around here somewhere…”

An old trunk labeled ‘PT’ was set on the bed, half of its contents thrown out and about. From things like replica outfits he had specially made, to an empty box of Phantom Wafers, to the old phone that Ren used during his time as a thief, this box held a lot of memorabilia that commemorated that fateful year. Mishima would probably faint from excitement if he ever got his hands on this box. Or just even saw it, honestly.

Ren chuckled at the thought as he rifled through the contents.

“What are you looking for? We’re not going to a convention, you know.”

Ren looked to his side to see Morgana jump onto the bed, examining the contents of the box. “Hey, is that my old Metaverse scarf? You gotta put that on me for our first mission!”

Ren’s chuckle grew louder. “Are we going to a convention or not?”

“Don’t twist my words! I can wear the scarf since I don’t have a real dress code!” And at that, Morgana grabbed the scarf with his paws and wrapped it around his neck, attempting to tie it together.

“Here, let me help with that.”

As Ren tied Morgana’s scarf, the cat asked his original question. “So, what are you even looking for anyway?”

“A couple of things. Remember how I had Iwai make a real copy of my original knife?”

Morgana snickered. “It’s kinda funny having somebody asking you to make a real replica of a fake original weapon. But yeah, I remember. Are you going to take it with you?”

Ren nodded, and his face lit up as he finally found his original blade. Taking the simple hilt in his hand, he twirled the knife around expertly as if he had been using it every day of his life. He even stuck his finger in the hole in the middle of the blade and spun it around his finger once or twice.

Morgana grinned at the sight. “Always the show-off. Anyway, what else are you looking for?”

Ren didn’t answer, but instead delved back into the box. A short while later, he pulled out a stack of fake, empty calling cards that were once sold as merchandise. They looked quite similar to the real thing, but the back lacked any writing. The front, however, had the classic Phantom Thief logo.

Morgana tilted his head. “Calling cards? Wait, don’t tell me… You want to leave a calling card at the nightclub?”

“Yyyyyyup. The people we’re up against clearly know who we are, right? Since anonymity is out the window, why don’t we show them that we’re not going to go down without a fight?”

Morgana looked skeptical. “I dunno, Ren… Do we really wanna call out these guys? Given they know who we are, they would all come after us as soon as they see that card.”

“Morgana, even if we don’t place a calling card, they’ll know it was us. If anything, this would be a layer of protection. While the Phantom Thieves aren’t the rage now, they’re known as heroes to the public. So, if that calling card were to make the headlines…”

“...Then the public would be aware of our return, and if something were to happen to us, then at the very least the public would be up in arms about it!” Morgana finished for him.

Ren nodded. “That was my train of thought, at least. It’s still a bit of a gamble, but I think making ourselves known will at least force our enemy, whoever they are, to think twice before taking action against us unless we’re on a mission. That is, if they want to remain unseen to the public.”

“That’s quite bold, but pretty good for you, Joker.” If a cat could smugly smirk, Morgana just did.

Unfazed, Ren returned the expression. “I have my moments. Anyway, I should probably put all this crap away.” He turned back to the box, then froze.

“Hey, what’s up? Something catch your eye?”

Morgana watched as Ren reached into the box, pulling out a single black glove.

“It’s… a glove.”

Ren shook his head. “Not just any glove. This is… Akechi’s glove. It’s been so long I forgot I had it…”

“ _Akechi?_ Why would you have it, let alone keep it in the first place?!” The cat growled and attempted to swipe at the glove, but Ren quickly shifted it out of his reach.

“Don’t touch it.” He said a little too harshly, which caused his feline friend to recoil.

“Ok, let me try again. Why are you so attached to Akechi’s glove? I mean, I know you two were friends and all, and you would hang out with him before Sae’s palace happened, but when did this glove become a thing?”

Ren took a look at the glove in his hand, before closing his fist on it, clenching tightly. “This glove represents a promise. Akechi said that in the West, if you want to duel somebody, you give them your glove. One night, after a game of Billiards where I beat him as he used his right hand, he asked if we could have an all out duel. In Mementos.”

“WHAT?! You and Akechi had a duel in Mementos? Do you realize he likely could have just killed you right then and there? And why didn’t you tell me this?”

“I know it was a risky move on my part. But, Akechi… He’s me. I mean, he was a wild card that got caught up in a shitty game rigged by a mad god. He also got screwed over by adults. He had a horrible childhood, and I was the only person that he ever considered a friend. He told me lots of things that he had never told anybody else before. He clearly trusted me, at least at one point. So, I trusted him.”

Morgana’s eyes half-lidded. “You trusted Akechi.”

“Yup.”

“And dueled him.”

“Yup.”

“In Mementos.”

“Yup.”

“With just the two of you.”

“Yup.”

“Without letting us know.”

“Yup.”

“Even though we were certain he had ulterior motives.”

“Yup.”

“Where he could easily have assassinated you right then and there.”

“Yup.”

Morgana stared at Ren for a few more moments before sighing. “Well, I guess no use in worrying about it now. But look, just because somebody has things in common with you doesn’t mean you can trust them blindly, got that?”

“I just can’t believe you’d do something so stupid, and not tell us about it.” Said Makoto, who leaned on the doorframe to their bedroom. Sae was behind her, an eyebrow raised.

“Is that… Akechi-kun’s glove? How did you get that?”

Ren sighed and filled the sisters in on what he had just told Morgana. About how Akechi trusted him, confided in him, and how they formed a legitimate friendship before the detective discovered Ren’s true identity. He also filled them in about Akechi’s duel in Mementos, and how he wanted a rematch. Hence, the glove.

“And as cheesy as this sounds, I don’t think Akechi would go up and die on me before fulfilling his promise of dueling me again.” Ren sheepishly finished with.

“...If it’s any consolation, I don’t think he’s dead. At least, we don’t have definitive proof yet. But, due to the fact that it’s been 6 years and we haven’t seen nor heard anything about him, I wouldn’t get your hopes up, either.” Sae’s tone was gentle, yet firm.

The room drifted into silence briefly, but was cut off by another ring at the doorbell. Makoto perked up at the sound. “Ah! That’s probably everybody else. Ren, put all that stuff away. What were you even looking for?”

“I’ll show you once everyone is gathered. I have an idea.”

“Oh my, may Lavenza help us all…” Makoto muttered half-jokingly as she slipped out of the room.

“Who’s Lavenza?” Sae asked, head slightly tilted.

“Oh, well… Simply put, she was my guide and mentor during my time as a Phantom Thief. Well, sort of. She was actually split into two people, then... “ He paused and sighed. “You know what, I’ll just explain the whole story to you later on. Go meet everyone else, I’ll put all this stuff back.”

Sae nodded and left his view in the doorframe.

“Lady Lavenza… She would be helpful at a time like this.” Morgana mumbled, watching as Ren put away the memorabilia back into the box. “Wait. Stop.”

Ren stopped, and looked at him.

“Didn’t Lady Lavenza give you your Velvet Room cell key?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Ren dove back into the box, digging around for a moment. Then, he pulled out a big, metal key. On one end of it was a rigid diamond shape, with the initials VR engraved in fancy letters at the base of the key shaft. The other end of the shaft looked like the key would fit into a stereotypical medieval lock.

Before either of the two could comment on it, they heard an angry shout in the other room, followed by: “Ren! Get in here before sis kills Yusuke for asking about modeling, please!”

Both cat and boy chuckled.

“Just like old times, eh Joker?.”

“It’s as if we never stopped.” He replied as he set Akechi’s glove and the cell key on his nightstand before putting the trunk up. He paused, staring at the former detective’s glove for a few seconds, then followed Morgana out of the room.

_You better be alive…_

He failed to notice the initials VR flash a dark blue for half a second, before becoming just as lifeless as the key itself once more.

\----------

The strategy meeting went without a single hitch, until the very end.

Haru was a bit unconvinced with the whole calling card stunt.

All in all, it was actually a pretty well thought out plan. However, Haru had to play tough and make sure her company’s safety came first. If Sae could provide ample reasoning, then she would play along.

“Um, I’m really not a fan of painting a target on the entire Okumura Foods company.” She said awkwardly. "Running the company may be extremely stressful, but I don't wish for unnecessary harm to become of it. What if our enemy comes after the company instead of me specifically? I have thousands of employees to consider.”

“Like Ren said, it’s a safer option. Having the public be aware of the Phantom Thieves return is more of a safety barrier than anything else, and that goes for protecting your company, too.” Sae responded.

“I would like for you to explain the logic behind this. I still see no benefit in it.” Haru challenged the attorney, her eyes cold.

Over the last 6 years, Haru had to mature a lot; and quickly, too. It came with the contract when you’re suddenly handed one of the largest food companies in Japan before you even graduate high school. Her time at college did benefit her in making business decisions, but there was no greater experience than running the company itself. The majority of her knowledge came from sitting in on business meetings, making her own proposals, and the things she’d learned so far in her venture to open the homegrown cafe.

She would be lying if she said she had managed to fully maintain her normally innocent and sweet personality from her days as Noir. Now, it wasn’t as if she had become a stone cold woman - she still had plenty of sweetness left in that floof of hers. Perhaps the best way she could explain it was that when you take over a huge company at such a young age, you have to grow up _fast._ And while she normally tries to be all smiles and sweet with her friends, Haru knows how to put on the face of a company CEO very quickly, and with a matching demeanor to boot.

And so, Haru knew how to be cold. How to stand firm, and not back down. So she utilized that here, where she felt that a calling card could possibly put her entire company - and all of its employees - in harm’s way if not thought out well enough.

Sae noticed the shift in Haru’s tone, and spoke slowly, trying to choose her words carefully. “It’s mostly due to publicity. Any sort of publicity would be a risk to our enemy, who works in the shadows. Even if it is known that Okumura Foods is related to the Phantom Thieves in a positive manner nowadays, I imagine our opponent would think twice before going after a food conglomerate. That would attract more attention to them than desired.”

“I understand that much. But again, how does the Phantom Thief name specifically protect Okumura Foods? If that can be answered, then you’ll have me convinced.” 

“Simply put, it’s another connection. Another loose end for our criminal friend to have to worry about. The public is now aware that certain activities such as sudden changes of heart, mental shutdowns, and psychotic breakdowns are possible. If a reverse change of heart occurs within Okumura Foods, then people would know that an ally of the Phantom Thieves were attacked. That’s drawing extra attention to themselves. I know it sounds risky, but this is more of a ‘hiding in plain sight’ mentality as opposed to hiding in the shadows, which is where our enemy excels.”

Haru sighed. Sae was making some sense, even if she wasn’t totally on board just yet. Maybe she shouldn’t have made that official public statement years ago that Okumura Foods are allies to the Phantom Thieves when prompted about it… She didn’t think they would ever come out of retirement.

However, having your company publicly declare their support for an organization that exposed one of the largest political scandals in Japanese history and saved the world (although very few people know the second part even happened in the first place) had its merits. It did do a lot in terms of reestablishing the Okumura Foods name in the public eye, for one.

The police and government were less than thrilled. But, this was Haru’s company, and the woman was going to run it as she damn well pleased. No more people telling her how to do things.

Wait.

_That's it! No more people telling me how to live!_

“Haru? Your answer?”

Haru blinked, sitting up straight. She didn’t realize she had spaced out. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She rubbed her hands along her red mini-jacket, smoothing it against her black tube top. She looked down to her white jean shorts and black, hole-ridden leggings, as if they - or perhaps her new red vans - would give her the answer. “I think…”

She paused. What came out of her mouth next surprised even herself.

“I’ll allow it.”

Despite her affirmation, Ren wasn’t happy with the result. “You were vehemently against it just a couple of minutes ago. Why the sudden change? Please don’t force yourself to go with something you don’t want to do.”

“Sae-san had some good points - they make sense. As for my own reasoning... “ Haru’s face donned a more determined glare, as she looked at everyone. “I was letting fear control my decision, scared of what our enemy may do. But I’m in control of my life, and I’m done having others make decisions for me. We’ll tackle them head-on, and we won’t lose. And since we won’t lose, my company has nothing to fear - especially when we’re backed by the Phantom Thieves!”

Truth be told, Haru herself was finding out what her reasoning was as she said it. This was something that came from her gut. It was pure instinct. 

There was a short silence, which caused Haru to search for something to take the attention off her. “If anything, I’m surprised Mako-chan is ok with it. Wouldn’t a calling card effectively jeopardize your position in the police force?”

Makoto and Sae exchanged looks.

“I've given it a lot of thought. I… honestly don’t care about my position anymore. My true goal is justice, and whatever the police department is these days… is not that.”

This time, the silence that befell the room was extremely heavy.

Haru took the chance to glance at Ren, who was looking at Makoto with wide eyes.

_It seems even Ren-kun didn’t know…_

“At least, I think.” Makoto added quickly, but she had tears in her eyes. “I’m really not sure and it’s killing me inside. But, I do know that I want justice. Tonight will help us achieve justice. Therefore, I’m going in with no regrets.”

Once again, a heavy silence set in.

Haru was uncomfortable. She felt bad for directing the attention to Makoto, so she attempted to get it off her. 

“By the way, we will need a codename for Sae-san, won’t we?”

Once she saw the look of the relieved faces of everyone in the room, Haru breathed a small sigh of relief. That was enough heavy conversation for the week.

“You’re right - she does need one! Although this time we don’t have a Metaverse outfit to go off of…” Morgana’s voice trailed off in thought.”

Suddenly, Yusuke sprang up from his seat, an arm outstretched. “Sae, tell me your ideal vision of justice! I shall sketch it in all its glory, and you will discern a most righteous codename from it!”

Unamused, Makoto rolled her eyes. “We don’t have time for that, Yusuke. And by the way, are you wearing your Kosei school uniform? How is that punk at all?”

Yusuke looked down at his outfit, prompting Haru to do the same. She had seen it earlier when the two of them met up at the train station, but she didn’t realize the similarities until now. He wore the familiar blue button down shirt and black pants, except there wasn’t a school logo. But there were some differences, Haru noted. He wore silver tennis shoes and red fingerless gloves in addition to the familiar look.

“Mako-chan is right. There are differences, but not enough.”

Yusuke scoffed. “How rude! This is not my Kosei uniform! But I will admit it does look similar. And fear not - I have a studded jacket hanging on the hook in the entryway. It is quite warm in your dwelling, and a hot body dulls the mind and inhibitions.”

Makoto coughed, Ren stifled a snort mixed with laughter, and Haru felt her cheeks turn a little pink. Naturally, Yusuke had no idea what he did..

And, true to her character, Sae didn’t do much more than blink boredly.

“Is he always like this?” Even with her question, she still sounded unphased.

“...You get used to it.” Makoto answered. “But Yusuke, for the love of Lavenza, _phrasing.”_

“Wouldn’t it be ‘for the love of Yaldabaoth’, Mako-chan?” Haru asked thoughtfully, putting a finger to her chin.

Ren shrugged. “Lavenza may as well be a god with what she’s capable of.”

"Also, why would you even love Yaldabaoth?" Morgana said, defending his fellow Velvet Room entity.

“Ahem. Codename?” Sae asked impatiently. “As much as I love sitting around talking, we do have a mission, yes?”

“Ah, yes. Well, sis, usually we chose our codenames based off of our outfit. For example, Ryuji’s mask is a skull mask, so we called him Skull. Ann’s was a feline-esque mask, so we called her Panther.”

“So, what would my mask be?” Sae cocked her head to the side, now intrigued. 

“That depends! When we would awaken to a persona in the Metaverse, we would don what our hearts considered the outfit of a rebel. I always enjoyed dark heroine stories, so my outfit was that of a musketeer!” Haru said excitedly.

“So, I should think of what my idea of a rebel looks like? That’s easy - a criminal rebels against the laws set by a country.”

Haru noticed Ren wince from the bluntness. She was quick to interject.

“Ah, that’s not quite right, Sae-san. The idea is to think about a rebel who stood up for what they believed in. For example, Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor because he wanted to stand up to class differences.”

“Oh, I see. That does make sense.”

Sae soon fell into silence, a hand on her chin and her eyes on the floor. The other thieves exchanged glances, then decided to wait for her to speak up again.

“...Phoenix.”

“How interesting. Why Phoenix?” Yusuke asked the question everyone else had lined up.

“The reasoning is pretty simple. My job as a prosecutor went up in flames during the whole Shido crisis, but I also rose from those flames as a defense attorney, committed to protecting those who were wrongly accused. And in addition, I suppose you could also say I was reborn once Ren convinced me to show Akechi Ren’s phone, and seek true justice.”

“Oh! I like that very much, it has quite a lot of symbolism behind it!” Haru exclaimed, clapping her hands together. The rest of the thieves said their piece in agreement as Ren stood up to supposedly give one last little speech.

“All right, when you’re on a mission, you’ll be known as Phoenix. Be sure to only use codenames when out in the field, so we don’t give away our real ones. Fortunately, our codenames never were leaked, so we can continue to use our original ones.” 

He paused, clicking his tongue. “Actually, codenames in the nightclub would sound suspicious, so I would say to switch to them if we run into trouble. It can be a sort of indirect warning that things are going to kick off, too.”

Another pause as he checked the faces of his teammates for any confusion or concern.

“Now, does everybody remember the plan, and does everyone have their earpieces to communicate?”

All of them - cat included - nodded in response.

“By the way, where did you even get these earpieces? They look quite high-tech and expensive.” Sae asked.

Ren smirked, and rubbed his hands together. He made no move to answer Sae’s question. “Perfect! Now, remember we’re going to be at a nightclub, so everybody have some fun! Remember we can do both work and fun at the same time, not to mention that it’ll help us blend in more. And, last but not least…”

He paused dramatically before continuing, his voice suddenly as cold as ice.

“Let’s teach these bastards not to fuck with the Phantom Thieves.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update on the author's note:
> 
> I originally was asking if I should make a posting schedule or not, and about the length of my chapters.
> 
> I've decided to go with a posting schedule: There will be a new chapter up every Friday! Having some sort of structure to when I post will help me plan, and one chapter a week will be so that I don't get too stressed about deadlines when I'm writing. I want to write for the fun of it, not to meet a deadline!
> 
> Now onto the more fun topics. I haven't played P5D, but I thought it would be fun to have an outfit cameo for the thieves. Except for Haru, because I don't really like her P5D outfit, admittedly. I also had to make one up for Sae, which was pretty fun.
> 
> Anywho, comments, concerns, pictures of Makoto, and other feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you everyone for reading, the kudos, and comments! Next week will be a big chapter in terms of story; look forward to it!


	16. Dancing in Starlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just found out that the ‘&’ in a relationship tag means it’s a platonic one, not romantic. Now I feel kinda stupid for having a Ren & Makoto tag up. I took that one down and added one for Futaba & Ren since they’re inseparable siblings in this, and I’ll probably add more when I see fit.
> 
> Now I no longer go “eww” when I see “Morgana & Ren” because now I know it’s platonic xD I wish there was a secondary category for platonic relationship tags, honestly. Also, I wish there was a way to organize tags. My OCD ass groans every time I see how all over the place mine are, but it would feel like too much work to reorder them, especially when I’ll likely add more tags in the future.
> 
> Also, if you’re reading this as the chapters release, you’ll notice the title has been changed from ‘The Phantom Thieves of Real Things’ to ‘Thieves Without A Metaverse’. I was never a fan of the original title, and I’ve been thinking about what to change it to for awhile. I’m happy with the current one now - it sounds like a more enticing read.

Getting in the club with his knife was a lot easier than Ren expected it to be.

It was already quite large, compared to the smaller switchblades that the other thieves had for self-defense. That meant he didn’t have many places to hide it, except for one little trick up his sleeve. Or rather, his shoe.

The club itself seemed to have a space theme to it, strangely enough. You’d would think that a club called Paradise would have an oasis theme. A yellow and red glittering ball hung behind the DJ, which Ren assumed was the sun. The 8 planets were positioned at various places along the roof, hung down by cable, and each of them had their own disco colors and themes going on. Not only that, but countless white spots in the ‘sky’ of the club represented stars. Thankfully, the dance floor didn’t have lights on it. Ren could only take so many distasteful color barrages at once.

Once they got into the club proper, Ren subtly lifted the heel of his foot up, grabbing the edge of the hilt that just barely poked out. With a swift deftness, he slid the knife out completely and into an empty sheath on his hip that was covered by his jacket. A quick peek around them showed nobody knew the wiser, save the rest of the thieves.

As they made their way to a nearby standing table, Sae couldn’t help but speak up.

“I still can’t believe you have something like that. Color me thoroughly impressed.” She gave Ren a rare smirk as she popped a hip out to one side, accentuated by a hand on it.

The thief coughed… again. How many times had he done that tonight? And why does Sae have to suddenly do things to throw him off his balance?

“My, please hold that pose! I must capture your beauty!” Yusuke immediately framed Sae with his hands, attempting to look for the optimal angle. 

As one would assume, that immediately soured the mood of the attorney. Before she could counter with anything, however, Ren grabbed one of Yusuke’s wrists and forced it down.

“Do we need to teach you this with all of our friends individually? Do not push your modeling agenda on them if they do not ask about it!” Ren almost hissed, hoping to get the point across.

It worked pretty well. Yusuke solemnly put down his other hand, nodding. “My apologies. I will refrain from doing so... with Sae. You and Makoto, on the other hand...” He trailed off, lost in thought while making more framing poses at the hand-holding couple.

Well, at least it wasn’t towards the newbie. Ren and Makoto were used to it by now.

With that slight awkwardness out of the way, Ren turned to Sae. “Although I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting such a big body language shift from you.”

At hearing this, Sae scoffed and flicked her hair. “How else am I going to find anybody else to talk to if I act so prim and proper? I need to find somebody who’ll buy me a drink, like, now, and maybe learn some things in the process…” She muttered as she disappeared into the crowd on her own, hips swaying as she walked.

A moment of relative silence was shared among the thieves.

“Uhh… Is that the same Sae Niijima that we’re friends with?” Ren asked in disbelief.

“How impressive. I think Ann could really benefit from some acting lessons from Sae-san!” Haru giggled, then motioned to Yusuke. “Come now, shall we split up? Yusuke and I will look around the ground floor. Good luck you two!”

The floof grabbed onto Yusuke’s wrist and pulled him away into the crowd, much to his protests of wanting to capture Ren and Makoto’s love in a nightclub element. She looked back to give one last wink before the two of them slipping into the dancing crowd.

“We’re going to have to thank Haru later - he would never have stopped pestering us.” Makoto groaned, rubbing her temples. “And then on top of this already loud music…”

Ren chuckled, although Makoto couldn’t hear it over the music. He leaned in close to her so he didn’t have to battle over the noise, and said, “Let’s just enjoy it before we notice something off and things undoubtedly go south, ok? How often will we realistically go to a nightclub, anyway?”

Makoto also leaned in to save her voice from shouting. “I suppose. And the best part about dancing in a room full of people is that nobody will pay attention to our terrible moves, right?”

“Excuse me, speak for yourself! My moves are ridiculously smooth!”

Makoto giggled, squeezing his hand. “Want to put your money where your mouth is?”

Ren grinned, and squeezed back. “You’re on.”

\----------

For once, Morgana was thankful he was a cat.

The booming music in the nightclub could easily be heard out behind the building, to the point that he could pick out all the lyrics of the current song. His poor cat ears would’ve started bleeding in record time if he was inside, for sure.

He was also surprised with how much traffic this back alley had. There were always at least a dozen or so people in the alley itself, but people of all ages weaved in and out of the foot traffic. Small ramen booths and other food vendors lined the street, combined with a couple of spice markets. The food shops were nothing interesting, but spice markets? Why have expensive spice markets in a seedy part of town, and in a back alley, no less?

Regardless, something that stood out to Morgana was a section in the alley that didn’t have a single booth. Only a single black door sat in the middle of the space, with a couple of thug-looking hooligans loitering a short distance away. The cat’s eyes narrowed.

_Target acquired._

He sulked his way over to the door, dodging in and out of people’s legs. Reaching the other side of the street, he found a chunk of wall missing near the door and sunk into it, the shadows blending around him. With his black fur, he was practically invisible. Once happy with his current situation, he lifted a paw to his ear and pushed a button on his earpiece.

“Guys, I found a suspicious looking door out back. I’m gonna stake it out to see if any suspicious activity occurs.”

He waited a few seconds, then got a response.

 _“Roger. Keep us posted.”_ Makoto’s voice could be barely heard above the din of the music in the background.

With the communications out of the way, Morgana laid down in his new hiding spot, and bided his time.

\----------

Haru and Yusuke didn’t last very long on the dance floor.

In hindsight, it made sense. The socially-awkward artist and mostly sheltered CEO weren’t the best fit for a sketchy nightclub, even if they currently looked the part.

The two of them danced for a couple of songs, and surprisingly well at that. Some of the moves they performed were done subconsciously, as if they had learned how to dance, but completely forgotten when any of their lessons took place. No, it was not their lack of dancing ability but the fact that they were packed in like sardines on the floor that caused them to seek refuge at a booth with surprisingly lush seating.

“My goodness! I’m sweating right now, it was so hot on the dance floor!” Haru fanned herself as she spoke to Yusuke, who was returning with two glasses of ice water. “Thank you very much.”

“Yes, it was quite uncomfortably hot in there, and not to mention rowdy. My wondrous dance moves were interrupted by all these barbarians jumping about! What sort of dancing do they hope to accomplish here?”

Haru suppressed a giggle. “Unfortunately, I don’t think the clientele here will care for elegant dancing, Yusuke-kun. By the way, just to ensure it wasn’t only me, but did you feel, how should I put it…” She held up a finger. “Like second nature! Was the dancing second nature to you?”

Yusuke took a greedy gulp of his water and nodded. “Yes, I understand the feeling. It was as if I knew how to dance, but I cannot recall taking any dancing lessons in my lifetime.”

“I’m glad that you’re also going through the same thing. I-” She cut herself off as something caught her eye. “Oh, Yusuke-kun! Look at that!”

Yusuke whipped his head around in the direction she was subtly pointing to see two men escorting a young woman into an unmarked door. Once the door was closed, a third man stood in front of it with his hands crossed in front of him.

“How suspicious, a guarded door… Shall we take a closer examination?” Yusuke took another swig of his water, then stood up.

Haru nodded, then took a few sips of her own water before standing up after him. “Yes! Let us investigate! But before that…”

Haru tapped her earpiece, then brought her wrist up to her mouth as if she was stifling a cough. “We found a suspicious door where two men took a young woman inside, and now it’s guarded. We’re going to take a closer look.”

This time, it was Morgana who responded. _“Nicely done, but remember to be careful!”_

\----------

Even Sae’s acting skills couldn’t save her from some of the thirstier guys who she deemed clearly held no useful information to her.

She did recall saying that she wanted a drink, but… just how many guys were there in this damn bar?

Too many. The answer was too many. She hadn’t expected standing at a bar alone would garner so much attention.

Although Sae could be a bit bias, perhaps. She was never really one to be into romance. She was married to her job. She held boys in high standards, and she was pretty sure none of the men in here met her expectations. Plus, girls were easier to get along with and were prettier-

She shook her head to clear her mind. This is not the appropriate time to indulge in such thoughts. She was expected to complete her mission. She will not fail.

She was scanning the bar again with her fingers on her forehead when she heard a more feminine voice behind her go, “For the last time, I’m _fine._ P-Please excuse me.”

The sharp tone in the voice got Sae’s attention. Turning around, she witnessed a girl attempting to pry a drunk man’s hand off her wrist, but he was having none of it.

“C’mon baby, I got a penthouse near here-”

Surprisingly enough, Sae didn’t even have to step in like she was planning to. The girl promptly stomped on the man’s foot with her heel, which caused him to release her and howl in pain. 

“Why, you little-!”

Sae was even further shocked when the girl pushed the man, sending him falling down into a clump of people dancing. Before he could react, she started to slip away, walking in Sae’s direction. It was at that point that the two locked eyes.

“HEY! GET BACK HERE!” The man shrieked, which caused people in the immediate area to jump in surprise and stare at him.

WIthout thinking fully, Sae took a couple of steps forward and grabbed the girl’s hand. She put on a cheery tone. “Oh, there you are! I was looking for you. Come on, everyone else is waiting!”

The girl initially opened her mouth to protest, but as Sae finished speaking, she seemed to understand. “Oh, I’m glad I finally found you! Let’s go!”

Once they were an acceptable distance away and out of sight, Sae released her hand. The other girl gave a small bow, face shining.

“Thank you for your help! I still probably could have handled him on my own, but you certainly made things easier.”

Sae allowed herself a small smile, her act dropping. “My pleasure. I’ve had my fair share of unwanted attention tonight as well. Now, if you’ll excuse me-”

Sae turned to leave, but she was interrupted by a hand on her wrist.

“Wait! At least let me buy you a drink as thanks?”

Her crimson eyes opened wide, looking at the girl’s deep brown ones. And for the first time tonight, she seriously considered taking her up on the offer.

_But I have a mission to uphold…_

The silence didn’t disturb the other girl, who instead dragged her off to the bar. “I’m not going to take no for an answer, so please allow me.” Her voice was soft and shy, yet at the same time Sae could detect a sense of firmness behind it. _Wait, how does that even work?_

A couple of stumbling steps later, the attorney sighed, and allowed a genuine smile to cross her face. “You can let go of my hand. I’ll take you up on the offer. You’ve been the nicest - and probably most sober - person to ask me that question all night.”

Upon hearing this, the girl released her, turned around, and ran a hand through her long, black hair as a shy smile crossed her face. “I’m glad you’ll accept. Although I should introduce myself, in that case.”

She gave Sae another slight bow, the smile growing. “You can call me Shiho. It’s nice to meet you!”

\----------

She just wanted to be left alone.

Even though she had been shown sufficient proof to be convinced who the three other people staying in the house with her were either family or very close friends, she still felt uncomfortable around them. 

Especially since they continued to barge into her room with different attempts to jog her memory. It got to the point that she had to lock the door to prevent people from coming in, and she started ignoring the pleas for her to open up. Perhaps she used to be more outgoing, but her natural instincts told her to lock herself up instead.

However, this didn’t mean she was against getting her memories back. She probably wanted it more than anybody else did. Not knowing a lot about who you are or your past is pretty tough, she determined.

Over the last several days, the girl learned a lot of things about herself. She realized that she was very good with computers - she found herself coding a numbers program on complete autopilot at one point, even. There were also a lot of files on her computer that only could’ve come from government or military databases, so she must have some very strong hacking skills, too.

She also learned that she was extremely smart. A lot of books in her room were either incredibly tough reads, or high level textbooks that she assumed were graduate-level of intensity.

Not only that, but she found it difficult to speak in conversation, most times. People she didn’t know, which was everybody currently, freaked her out. Hence, she was locked in her room now.

And then there was the phone bug on her supposed brother, Ren’s, device. It did look like the two of them spent a lot of time together in the past; she found countless texts exchanged with her while going through his memory. And wherever she went within his data, she would see that name.

“______ ______.”

Even though it was allegedly hers, that name felt alien. As if she didn’t own it. As if she simply didn’t understand it. In fact, she couldn’t even properly register it, or any other name that has been told to her. But apparently she had amnesia, and an internet search showed that names can often be a source of annoyance for a patient. A link to something that once was, is extremely important to an identity, but is just outside of reach.

Giving up, she looked around her mostly barren room. If anything, she was surprised at how few things she owned. The only furniture in her room consisted of a single bed, a desk, and computer, which she hooked up a few days ago. The people living with her currently had dropped it off at her door and asked her to rifle through the contents. They claimed it was hers from her apartment _(I own an apartment? Maybe that’s where all my stuff is?)._ However, she didn’t know the password.

Thankfully, apparently Ren knew it, and he texted it to her within the hour.

_I’d trust somebody enough to tell them a password to a computer with enough illegally-collected data on it to put me away for life?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a _thud_ outside her door, followed by a knock.

“Hey, uhh, __- oh right, no names...” A young male’s voice sounded out. She guessed it was the spiky blonde. Regardless of who it was, however, they would get the silent treatment.

He seemed to know this, so he continued on. “Anyway, the police presence around your apartment finally disappeared today. So, I went to your place and got a big box of some of your more personal stuff. It was in your storage closet. Figured the stuff in it, whatever it is, might help jog your memory a bit. Oh, and I also took some other stuff in your apartment and put it in another box as well. It’s more recent stuff, so maybe that’ll help.”

That was new. Two boxes of personal belongings? That might be useful...

“...Leave it outside. I’ll get it once you leave.” She said quietly.

He probably wasn’t expecting an answer, because he sounded taken aback, yet pleased. 

“Cool! I hope this helps!” He repeated.

And with that, she heard his footsteps go down the hall, and down the stairs. Once confirming the house was silent again, she hesitantly unlocked her door. Peaking out into the empty hallway, she looked down to see a hefty, sizable box labeled ‘My Personal Shit’. There was also a smaller box on top of it, which was unmarked.

Cocking her head to the side, she quickly pushed the two boxes into her room, locking her door behind her. She broke the tape on the ‘Personal Shit’ box first and opened it up, pouring through its contents. 

Neo Featherman action figures, lots of anime and manga, posters of various things, videogames, and stuffed plushies were a chunk of what lay within the box. There were other knick knacks that, while she found herself staring at them, didn’t do much for her personally. Given she must have been the one who labeled the box ‘My Personal Shit’, these must have some sort of value to her.

Ultimately, though, it was a bust. Sighing, she threw everything back into the box haphazardly, then turned her attention towards the other one. It was smaller and unmarked, with fresh tape sealing the top. She made a noise of interest as she peeled away the tape, and her eyes went wide when she looked inside.

Pictures.

Lots of Pictures.

Throughout her phone snooping, she noticed that a lot of her alleged friends, and also Ren, weren’t normally ones to take pictures. She found next to no photo evidence on their phones, and the random pictures of her with other people didn’t exactly do much. However, this box was full of them. And important-looking ones, at that.

Her hands were trembling slightly as she reached in, pulling out a wide frame.

Her orange hair seemed to be flowing in the wind, partially covering Ren’s face. He was laughing while attempting to brush it out of the way, his eyes on her. He also had that talking cat perched on his shoulder, sporting what looked like a human smile. On her other side was the coffee man, who claimed to be her guardian. He had a hand on his forehead in annoyance, but his smile betrayed him. They were standing outside a coffee shop, the name on the awning reading “Leblanc.” She narrowed her eyes looking at the name.

_That name… It’s the one coffee man runs, I think. Right around the corner from here apparently…_

She turned over the frame, and on the back was a date and note. “March 19, 2017 - Ren’s last day :(”

_Last… Day..._

Her hands shook even more as she set it down and pulled out another photo.

This one had many more people on it, and was on a beach. Every member of the so-called Phantom Thieves were there, including her - in the smack dab middle of the frame. They were all wearing swimsuits, smiling brightly, and she even had an inner tube around her waist. And once again, she noticed that Ren and her were looking at each other. Unlike the last photo, however, she thought the looks they gave each other were different. They looked less familial.

She looked like she was nervous, and he looked like he was reassuring her.

Flipping over the frame, she found another date and note. “August 29, 2016 - Beach trip and my inauguration in the PTs!”

_PTs… Phantom Thieves…_

She took another look at the handwriting specifically. Both photos and the words ‘My Personal Shit’ were all in the same handwriting, so it was safe to assume that she was the one who wrote these things…

_I… I am a member. Of the Phantom Thieves._

At that point, she felt like the floodgates opened up.

Silent tears fell freely down her cheeks as she began to tear through photos. One with her, Ren, and… coffee dad(?) standing in front of a plaque that read “Shujin Academy”, with her in a school uniform. Another one that was taken during what looked like high school graduation, with yet again the two men by her side. All three of them were beaming at the camera as she held her high school diploma high in the air.

Another one showed her at college graduation. Another photo was of her and Ren at an amusement park. A third was a picture of her and the three other female Phantom Thieves out shopping.

She kept rifling through photos, but she began to notice something while she browsed her memories in physical form, since her mental library was letting her down.

Ren - the only name she could register - was in so. Many. Photos.

_Just what is Ren to me? He claimed to be my brother… But… All these times I’ve apparently spent with him. All these memories that should be mine… All these… And he's the only person who's name I still register too..._

She choked back a sob as she continued to look through more photos. A photo of her and Ren at an arcade. A photo of her and a short haired brunette making dinner in an apartment. A photo of her and pigtail blondie getting a pedicure. A photo of her, floofy hair, and Ren drinking coffee. 

One was even a collage of 4 photos: One of her and Ren hugging each other in a doorway, one of the two of them making peace signs in the same doorway (although she held a pair of bunny ears over Ren’s head as well), another one of the two of them in an apartment filled with boxes, and lastly, a sincere photo of the two of them in a living room, an arm slung around each other’s shoulders. They were standing against the back of a couch, beaming at the camera, the excitement in both the expressions evident.

Turning over the collage, she read the note aloud. “May 7th, 2021 - Moving into my own apartment next to Ren’s :D"

Each photo had felt like it was chipping away at the solid barrier that stood between her and emotional freedom - her memories returning, but the last collage came at that barrier with a huge axe.

_Ren… These people... They all mean so much to me… They… they saved me… They saved me! THEY SAVED ME!_

Finally, she knew something! They saved her! But how? And from what?

Hoping she’d find her answer if she continued rooting through pictures, she turned her attention to the nearly empty box. However, something specific caught her eye.

The first thing she realized was that it wasn’t a picture. She picked it up, inspecting what looked to be about the size of a postcard. On one side had a logo with the words “Take your heart” written under it, with black and red patterns in the background. Her eyes grew wide and she flipped the card over, hands trembling so much she could barely read the text on the back.

Her voice was as shaky as her hands.

“______ ______ h-has committed a g-great s-sin of d-d-drowning in s-sloth… T-Thus, w-we will rob e-every last b-bit of those d-d-distorted d-desires…”

The returning silence in the room was deafening as her mind raced.

_They… stole my distorted desires…_

_I was… drowning in sloth…_

_They… They saved me from… From…_

_My mom’s suicide..._

_My mom… committed suicide? B-But she was nice, and she loved me, right…?_

She opened her tear-ridden eyes wide.

_My mom didn’t commit suicide. She was… killed. And…_

She took a look around her, at all the photos of her time spent with everyone. The time she spent with Ren. The time she spent with the Phantom Thieves.

She picked up the photo of all of them on the day they went to the beach. That day, they went on a banana boat ride, played volleyball, and splashed around in the water. That day, she joined the Phantom Thieves.

_Wait. I remembered what happened that day!_

Upon realizing this, she went into a frenzy, looking at every photo once again, remembering more and more in a flood of emotion.

Ren skipped his first day of university because he wanted to be there for her first day at Shujin.

The female Phantom Thieves took her shopping because her wardrobe was apparently lacking in variety, and she needed something other than graphic t-shirts and short shorts to wear to university.

On Ren’s last day, she had cried forever until he told her that he would do his best to visit her during golden week.

On the day of her college graduation, Ren whistled and cheered so loudly when her name was called, everyone around her gave her strange looks. No, it wasn’t just Ren. It was everybody. Every Phantom Thief was there, so happy to see her accomplish a personal dream of hers. There was even a whole after-graduation ceremony for when she crossed ‘graduating college’ off her promise list.

On the day she moved into her apartment, she was so excited yet scared to be living alone. But she had wanted to go through with it, so she could grow up and become independent. She remembered looking for places near Ren’s complex before stumbling on one apartment just a few floors below his own. She remembered taking the apartment immediately, not only her’s but also Ren’s excitement bleeding through as they called the realtor.

As much as she tried to, she couldn’t remember too much about her friends outside of the photos she had. It was as if there were small pockets of memory available to her, but she could only view them.

Ren, however, was a different story.

Ren cared about her a lot, it seemed. Well, they were siblings after… all…

Not allegedly, not supposedly. They _were_ siblings.

_My brother… He… He is my best friend… He is my key item… He is everything to me…_

_And I… am his sister. I am…?_

She groaned loudly, punching the pillow on her bed as tears streamed down her face.

_Fuck! I’m so damn close, why can’t I just remember?!_

She took a few minutes to calm her nerves.

She felt she was on the cusp of remembering. But she needed one thing to help push her over the edge.

She needed Ren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought Shiho would escape from this fic? Of course not! I love her too much to not have her in the story. As for why she's there and what she's up to, I shall leave that for you to find out!
> 
> Anyways, I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the last part with Futaba, as sad as her situation currently is. I'm more interested to hear your thoughts, though!
> 
> Next chapter, we get into the thick of it. Shit's gonna go down!


	17. Trouble in Paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for this chapter. Without spoiling anything, shit is gonna go down.

Sae, being as perceptive as she is, could easily determine that this Shiho girl had a traumatic past.

The signs were subtle, but there. Hints of past mental scars that have since healed, yet are still visible. The light flinches if anybody touched or bumped into her without her initial awareness. The way her shoulders were ever so slightly hunched, as if making herself smaller than she was. She seemed to always take subtle notes of her surroundings, not unlike scanning for potential threats. She was also extremely shy, and her gaze seldom met Sae’s. Normally, it was either on the floor, or the bar, or the dance floor. Anywhere but her partner in conversation. 

There even seemed to be a slight distaste towards males - she would immediately shoot down any attempts from guys who tried to talk to the two of them.

Having been involved in countless cases of all sorts of varieties, Sae could figure it out after several minutes of conversation: Shiho seemed to be a sexual assault victim, but the lawyer couldn’t determine the cause behind her slight limp she sported. Physical injury, perhaps? She had an athlete's body - well toned and not an ounce of fat was to be seen on her. Injuries aren’t uncommon among professional athletes.

There was also the fact that the shy girl only gave her her first name - Shiho. Which Sae had no problem with. That meant she could return the gesture, leaving her partially famous ‘Niijima’ name out of the conversation. It was slightly unnatural, though. It’s normally Japanese culture to introduce yourself with your full name. But by not giving a full name, it would be much harder to find this girl online, for example. It seems she didn’t want to be found.

And with what Sae could gather from her conversation, it was probably best that it stayed that way - for both their sakes. She didn’t want to see the headline ‘Sae Niijima recorded fighting known yakuza soldiers in seedy nightclub.’

“So, anyways,” Shiho giggled softly as she set down her drink, the two of them sharing a laugh after watching a girl slap a guy a few seats down. Suddenly, she furrowed her brow, yet the smile remained. “You don’t seem to be the sort of person to visit a place like this, Sae-san. What brings you here?”

_She’s perceptive._

Sae’s acting had fooled everyone here so far, except for her. But in turn, her question in a serious tone also gave Shiho herself away. This wasn’t her usual hangout spot, either.

She tucked away that information for later. For now, though, she had to make up something.

“You’re sharp. This isn’t my normal scene, I’ll admit.” The attorney began, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “But my friends finally managed to drag me out here. We got separated, I noticed you and that man having a confrontation, and the rest is history.”

It wasn’t all a lie. This nightclub was probably as far from her normal scene as it could get - that much was true. But, she came here on her own volition.

Shiho wasn’t buying it, however. “No offense, Sae-san, but you don’t seem the type to have friends that would like to hang out in a sketchy nightclub.” She crossed her legs, taking a sip of her drink. For once, she brought her eyes to meet the other’s. “You seem like the proper and efficient type. Either you have an uncharacteristically bad sense of choosing friends, or you’re here on ulterior motives. So, which one is it?”

Her tone wasn’t hostile. In fact, it was more reserved than anything - as if Sae wouldn’t need to worry about this girl, no matter what she told her. But that only raised more red flags. Shiho was unnaturally sharp for an athlete. It reminded her of how Ren and some of the other Phantom Thieves could pick out mental cues and navigate conversation as naturally as breathing comes to them. They look innocent enough, but they have the hearts and minds of master thieves.

So, instead of answering her question, Sae retorted with one of her own using the information she gathered previously. “I have to give you credit - you’re much more perceptive than what I initially took you for. But two can play at that game. You also don’t seem to particularly enjoy this scene. Why are you here?”

Shiho simply shrugged lightly. “My teammates wanted to come, and they dragged me here.”

Sae studied Shiho’s face as she spoke, and was disappointed once she realized there were no obvious tells that she was lying. 

To the attorney’s surprise, Shiho was beaming. “That isn’t a lie, you know.”

“Excuse me? But-”

An unexplainable burst of confidence had emerged from Shiho as she interrupted Sae. “You’ve certainly lost your edge, Niijima Sae-san.”

Alarm bells rang in Sae’s head as her eyes widened. Her lips slightly parted in shock, but she attempted to play it off by going for her drink. As she did so, she slid a hand up to adjust her hair. As her hand brushed past her ear, she double-tapped the earpiece.

Thankfully, Futaba decided to invest some time in a little project after the meeting and before she was attacked: custom earpieces for everyone - even Morgana. In fact, Sae assumed that was why Futaba was up at such a late hour that morning.

She had absolutely no idea how on Earth that girl could do something that quickly, but she had learned to just not question it.

Anyway, that double tap would send out a signal to every other thief in the field, letting them know something had happened. Then, by phone app, the thieves could track her earpiece signal via a short range gps. Simple, yet effective. And help would be on the way soon.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” Shiho asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. Sae didn’t sense any malintentions from the younger woman, but her guard was already up and strong.

“It’s nothing. I suppose it’s no surprise that I may be recognized when I go out. My semi-celebrity status in the world of law is a nuisance sometimes.” Sae's interrogation personality was starting to return in full force as a defense mechanism.

Shiho noticed and attempted to match. “Uh-huh, I see. But you know, that doesn’t answer my original question: why you’re here.”

“Who’s asking?”

“Um, me?”

“For what purpose?”

“I-It was mostly small talk. I just didn’t expect to find you here, like I said. This isn’t somewhere I would expect you to be...”

Sae raised an eyebrow. Shiho had begun to repeat herself with uncertainty. Sae had her on the defensive - time to go on offense. “And how would you know enough about me to make that assumption?”

“Because I told her about you. And that’s enough, Sae. Give the girl a break.”

Both girls whipped their heads to look behind them to see Ren standing there, a big smirk on his face. Makoto was at his side, also smiling, but it was directed at Shiho.

Ren’s smirk turned into a genuine grin, one that was copied by Shiho as soon as she realized who the newcomers were.

“REN! MAKOTO!”

“Hey, Shiho.”

Shiho sprung from her seat and enveloped the couple in a tight embrace.

\----------

“So, Ren and Shiho went to the same high school in your third year?” Sae asked, bewildered.

Ren chuckled, nodding. “You’d be correct.”

Several minutes later found all the thieves - minus Morgana and plus Shiho - sitting at a corner booth in the club. Sae originally argued against Ren, complaining that they had more important things to do, but he put his foot down. Morgana was keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity, and there wasn’t any yet. They had to blend in, anyways. Since they had been sleuthing around for a while, it was probably best to take a breather.

Ren was glad Makoto agreed with him when Sae protested to her. It didn’t take too much convincing after that.

“I was alone until Ren came along. Rumors about my… situation at Shujin got out, and I was shunned from my classmates. When Ren came into school at the start of the third year, his own peers continued to shun him too, even though his record had been cleared by that point. So, the two of us stuck together. We hung out daily, and soon became very close friends.”

Sae looked to the table, deep in thought. _A situation at Shujin? What sort of situation would she have gotten into? Was she a victim of Kamoshida?_

Shiho paused, taking a sip of her drink that she had taken from the bar with her during her talk with Sae. Nobody spoke up, so she continued.

“Ren helped me a lot. He helped me through the rumors about me, was there for me when I was experiencing flashbacks or trauma, taught me how to read people, helped me ease back into physical contact with others, and so much more. I’ll forever be in his debt for it.”

“That would explain your perceptiveness in our earlier conversation.” Sae, having put her current thoughts aside, said good-naturedly. Any tension between the two that Ren sensed when he initially showed up had vanished, fortunately.

Even though he was relieved to see the two at ease, he was a bit troubled by the girl thinking she was in his debt. “We’re even, Shiho. My life would’ve been absolutely horrible that year had you not allowed me to try to get you to open up. We leaned on each other all year.”

He placed a hand on hers, and squeezed. She flipped her hand to interlock their fingers and squeezed back, smiling at him. “I suppose you’re right. Yes, we did rely on each other a lot, didn’t we?”

Ren knew what he was getting into when he grabbed Shiho’s hand. He could already feel Sae’s eyes giving him one of the biggest death glares he could witness. So, he was doing everything in his power to avoid it.

The eyes must have turned to Makoto, because she spoke up after a few seconds. “I don’t have a problem with it, sis. The two of them were desperate and needed to support each other. I wasn’t going to deprive him of something they badly needed. Believe it or not, it hurt me much more to see Ren pained and alone when I couldn’t be there for him instead of spending time with someone else.”

There was no response, so Ren risked looking up at the older Niijima.

Turned out her brain had fried. She was sitting there, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. It took several seconds for her to find her voice.

“I- You- But-... And you’re just ok with this? You were ok with that?”

Makoto giggled and shrugged. “It’s a very long story with complicated circumstances - perhaps I’ll fill you in on all the details another time. It also made for... _interesting_ visits when I would go see Ren during his third year, though!”

Makoto was exaggerating, and certainly suggesting things happened that actually didn’t, but Ren immediately recognized she took the chance to tease her sister. The most the three of them ever did was cuddling together - at that point in time, Shiho couldn’t deal with physical contact much more than that.

Ren didn’t think Sae would even get any more flustered, or speechless. He didn’t think the attorney would ever expect her baby sister to be like this. But then again, nobody did. Queen was who she wanted to be. Queen didn’t let anybody tell her what she should think is right and what is wrong. Queen couldn’t - and wouldn’t - allow anybody to step on her anymore.

_Figuratively, at least._

Ren coughed hard and rubbed his free hand over his mouth and cheeks to hide the furious blush that had begun to creep onto his face.

_We’re all young and rebellious teens/young adults. It’s ok to stray from the norm, right?_

**This was not exactly the type of rebellion I had in mind, Trickster, but I applaud breaking free from societal standards.**

Ren blinked. He had forgotten that Arsene could read his thoughts. And he especially wasn’t asking for him to pitch in when he thought that.

_Seriously, you’re gonna suddenly appear and comment on that now? Do you have pent up sass from staying silent these past years?_

**What sort of gentleman thief would I be without my lighthearted wits?**

_If you can read all my thoughts, we’re going to have a serious conversation about when you’re allowed to actually pay attention to them._

Thankfully, the others didn’t notice his internal conversation. Sae blinked and leaned back in her seat. Haru giggled at the scene unfolding in front of her. Yusuke had his eyes closed and rested a hand on his chin, likely composing an art piece in his head.

“Putting two and two together, I realize that the girlfriend Ann had during her third year of high school must have been you, Suzui-san. Did Ann know about this?” Sae asked, everything but defeat in her voice.

“Yup. If anything, she encouraged it.” Shiho simply said, as if it were common knowledge. “Ann knew how alone and hurt I was back then. She thought it would help me. And I have to say, it definitely did.”

“So… what are you two now?” Sae looked at their hands, which were still connected. She noticed Makoto had made no move to untangle them, even though she seemed aware of the fact.

Ren and Shiho looked at each other. “Honestly? No idea. I haven’t seen you in person in a long while. I had no idea you were even in Tokyo.”

“It was a last minute decision; I’ll have to fill you in on the details later. I’ll be in town for the foreseeable future though, so do you want to meet and catch up sometime soon?”

Ren already had promised one meetup next week, but fortunately, his new “profession” allowed for flexibility in his schedule. It suited him much more than back to back meetings and strategy discussions on political bullcrap for hours on end. 

_God, legal justice sucks._

Putting that aside, he turned to Shiho. “I should be able to squeeze you in,” he began with a wink. “Just let me know when you’re available.”

 _“I know there’s a reunion going on right now, but we have something, guys.”_ Morgana’s voice came over the earpiece, and suddenly the thieves tensed up.

_“I’ve been staking out the club’s backdoor, and the girl matching Noir and Fox’s description was just escorted out. She seems to be pretty out of it. Lots of slurring speech and stumbling.”_

“Perhaps drugged?” Yusuke offered.

“Either way, it’s showtime. Codenames are on.” Joker said, his face serious.

“W-What? What’s going on?” Shiho asked, fear creeping up in her face.

“You need to leave, Shiho. I’ll call you a cab and wait with you until you’re safe. As for the rest of us, we need to split up. Two outside, two inside. Outside will attempt to rescue. Inside will loiter around that one door Fox and Noir found and see if our outside activity changes things in here. I’ll join outside once Shiho is safe. Questions?”

“Since Noir and I already are familiar with the indoor area near that entrance, shall we remain here?” Fox asked as he stood up, the rest of the thieves following suit.”

“Very well. Queen and I will head outside, then.” Phoenix said as they scooted out the booth. 

“Perfect. Everyone, keep your comms open, and relay if anything happens.”

As people filed out, Shiho began to recover from her initial confusion. “Re- Joker, let me stay, please. I can help somehow.”

Joker shook his head as he gripped tighter on Shiho’s hand, pulling her with him as they made their way through the outskirts of the club to avoid the mosh pit in the middle. “Sorry, Shiho, but I’m not going to put you in harm’s way.”

Shiho yanked on his hand, causing him to turn around and face her. The girl leaned in close to Joker, her eyes narrowing. “But I’m an athlete, and you taught me how to fight.”

“I taught you forms of self-defense, not fighting.”

“That’s still a method of combat. Let me help.”

“This isn’t your fight, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“It’s my fight when you, Ann, Makoto, and everyone else is involved.”

“This is more than you could handle.”

“You don’t know that.”

Joker suddenly released Shiho’s hand to grip both her shoulders. His voice was low, but fierce.

“Some yakuza bastards from this place attempted to kidnap my little sister a week ago. She has amnesia now. I failed to protect her, and I’m not going to fail to protect you. Because you’ll be gone, out of danger.”

Shiho didn’t respond, but Joker could tell her mind was racing.

After a few seconds of silence (relatively speaking, given they were in a nightclub), Shiho reached up and slapped him across the cheek. Hard.

Joker let go of her, completely stunned.

“If you failed to protect your sister like you said you did, she would be in a much worse place than what she’s in right now.”

He said nothing.

“You’ve never failed to protect anybody. Even me. I know you blamed yourself and probably still do for my suicide attempt, but none of it was within your control. So snap out of it, Ren.” She crossed her arms as she deliberately used his real name.

The thief sighed nervously. “How does this relate to right now, when I’m trying to get you somewhere safe?”

“You brought it up first. Sorry if this sounds too harsh, but I am much more physically capable than Futaba is. Let. Me. Help. You.”

Joker bit his lip, as he looked at Shiho.

“Joker, _I_ would never forgive myself if something were to happen to you if I left. If I’m here, I’ll at least know I did everything I could to protect you.”

There was another long stint of (relative) silence.

“...You’ve grown a lot in the past several years, Shiho. I’m proud to see how far you’ve come.”

At the sudden praise, Shiho’s guard dropped slightly. “W-Well, I’m still shy around new people and have trouble with physical contact with those I don't know well… But when I’m with people that I trust, it’s a different story entirely. And I trust you.”

Joker studied Shiho for a few seconds, before sighing. “Well, I would hope you can trust me. Because I’m going to ask one last time. This will be dangerous. You may get hurt, or worse. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Shiho nodded, eyes narrowed. “Lead the way.”

“If you insist, Angel.”

“A-Angel? We're bringing that back?” Shiho, now codenamed ‘Angel’, blushed.

“Temporary codename. Let’s head outside. You’ll be sticking with me tonight.”

And with that, the two of them hurried off towards the club exit.

\----------

“Which way did they go, Mona?”

_“I’ve been following them. They went down the street, and an employee from one of those spice shops came out to meet them. After a few minutes of hushed talking, they ducked into the employee door. I’m not sure if there’s a back exit but they haven’t come out this way yet.”_

“Got it. On our way.”

Angel half-listened to the conversation (most of it was just a series of meows to her, but she was aware of the fact that Mona held human intelligence and could talk) as she and Joker, who translated Mona’s meowings, made their way into the back alley of the club. She was surprised to find the alley to be quite vibrant with life - bars, ramen booths, and spice shops dotted the cluttered space. It almost gave her a cozy feel of sorts, as if it could provide a quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.

She didn’t know why, but Joker had a spare earpiece to give her. When Angel questioned him about why he was holding onto a spare earpiece, his reply was cryptic, talking about how he did it to remind himself of somebody who should be here. She had an assumption as to who it was supposed to be, and wondered why he was so cryptic about it given they discussed it just a few minutes ago. But for now, she was there to make sure he didn’t do anything overly stupid.

Queen and Phoenix were already with Mona by the time the other two showed up. They hung out a short ways from the spice shop in question, and Mona slipped away to snoop out the area. Joker spotted a cigarette on the ground, and picked it up. He pretended to put it to his lips to feign smoking. Now, the group could be seen as some rebellious young adults out on a smoke break from the club. Queen showed a bit of disgust at the idea, but she relented. “It is pretty smart,” she said, “Although quite unsanitary.”

Joker flashed a grin as he pretended to take a drag from the cigarette. “Wanna smooch?”

“N-Not right now, you dork! And onto more pressing concerns, why is she here?” Queen pointed at Angel, frowning. “I thought you were going to send her home?”

Joker opened his mouth to respond, but Angel cut him off. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I was stubborn and convinced him to let me accompany him. And before you try, I’m not going away, either.”

Angel did her best to remain firm, and it seemed to work. Queen backed down, sighing, but saying nothing.

“Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. I would say ‘just don’t get in our way’, but I have a feeling you’re more useful than you let on.” Phoenix said, studying her. She did manage to battle her in a game of wits, after all. Even if she didn’t win, lasting more than 10 seconds against a Niijima is worth mentioning.

 _“Ok, I’ve got some info.”_ Mona’s voice sounded over the comms, and the group fell silent. _“There’s only one person in the storefront. I’m going to cause a distraction, while you all slip by unnoticed and into the back rooms.”_

“Understood. We’ll wait for your signal.” Joker replied.

“Wait, I can’t understand what he’s saying. Can somebody translate?” Angel asked.

Joker relayed the information to Angel so she was aware of the situation.

_“That voice - Shiho? Joker, what have you gotten her into now?”_

“It’s Angel, and she got herself into this.” Joker defended himself with. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Angel could hear a very cat-like sigh on the other end, followed by a shorter series of meowing. It seemed to be the end of the conversation, because nobody said anything after that.

The comms fell silent again while the group awaited Mona’s master plan to take effect.

\----------

Queen didn’t think Mona would destroy the entire store as his attempt at getting the attention of the shopkeep.

As the group waited for Mona to do his job, they suddenly heard a man screaming, followed by lots of loud clanging noises. They turned their attention towards the spice shop to find Mona running out the front door, a stack of Yen bills in his mouth. The owner appeared shortly after, giving chase down the street while yelling “Give that back, thief!”

Queen couldn’t help but giggle as Mona gave his reasoning through the muffling the money in his mouth gave him.

_“He didn’f seemf to care unlef I toof monef. Gof!”_

Queen led the group, silently making their way towards the shop’s open-air entry. Upon confirming that everybody in the alley was otherwise preoccupied with the spectacle of a cat stealing money from a grown man, the group slipped inside, into the store.

The inside looked like a warzone. Shelves were completely knocked over, spice was everywhere, and there were even spare Yen bills scattered around the store. Angel couldn’t help but giggle at the sight.

“Wow, Mona really made a mess in here.”

Queen nodded. “Indeed, but we can’t get distracted. Gloves on, everyone, let’s cover our tracks and not leave prints. Angel, you’re going to have to refrain from touching anything, since you don’t have gloves.”

Angel shook her head as she dug into her handheld purse, pulling out a pair of black leather gloves. “Oh don’t worry, I brought a pair as part of my outfit!”

“Ah, that settles that, then.” Queen responded as she and Phoenix donned their black gloves; Joker putting on neon red gloves of his own.

Aside from the main shop, there was one doorway that led to a storage room of sorts. Three of them fanned out into different areas of the shop, searching it for anything suspicious or out of place that could give them a lead, while Joker popped into the storage room.”

Despite the situation, Queen felt herself smile. “You know, Joker, your outfit looks strikingly like your Metaverse outfit.” She made light conversation as they searched.

“Oh? Was it similar to what he’s wearing now?” Phoenix asked, cocking her head to the side slightly.

“Close. Like this outfit, it had a lot of black. The main difference is my mask, and that my coat in the Metaverse was a long, three-piece tailcoat.” He said from the other room.

“Ohh, that sounds stylish!” Angel said excitedly, then sneezed from all the spice powder in the air.

“Bless you! You don’t know half of it, though.” Queen muttered as she looked behind the counter with the cash register, checking for anything unusual. “Joker’s normally quirky attitude would do a complete 180 in the Metaverse."

"I heard! Apparently he becomes very theatrical and over the top!" Angel said with a grin.

The boy’s head appeared in the doorway, a sheepish smile on his face. “Hey now, who told you that?"

“Erm… I think her codename is Panther?"

Phoenix sighed. "I understand that Angel seems to be a close... friend," she cast a side eye at the newcomer, "of the group, but should your group really be telling others about the Metaverse? Whoever knows is undeniably put at risk. The fewer the people that know, the fewer we have to worry about."

_Does it matter that much, though? Ren told me the Metaverse doesn’t exist anymore…_

She opened her mouth to ask, but suddenly Joker called out from the back room.

“I got something!”

Angel, as well as the other two thieves, hurried into the storage room. There, they found Joker with his face very close to the wall, as if he was trying to listen to it talk.

“There’s a uniform crack in this wall, with a tiny draft coming through it.” He said softly, then frowned. “I think I can hear voices too, but I’m not sure. Is that… moaning? And it sounds… Oh, God.”

“Creepy moaning? Are you sure?” Phoenix gave Joker a quizzical look, but Angel could see fear rising in her face.

Joker simply nodded, backing away slowly. “Y-You can listen for yourself.”

Phoenix put her ear to the wall, and after a few seconds, her eyes went wide. “My God… Did we stumble upon…” 

She couldn’t bring herself to finish, but it was enough to tell Angel what exactly was going on behind that door.

Her eyes widened, and she felt her knees go weak. She leaned against the wall for support as her breathing quickened. “N-No… Don’t tell me…”

“ _FUCK!”_

Joker’s voice was extremely quiet, but incredibly harsh.

“We need to find a way in, and fast. There has to be a hidden contraption around here to open the door…” He muttered, almost to himself, as he ran his fingers along the small crack that signified the edges of the hidden door.

“Joker… I think we should regroup for now. We’ll get the police involved, and perform a proper sting operation on this place.” Queen said hesitantly, reaching to put an arm on his shoulder.

Before she could do so, however, Joker wheeled on her. “Oh yeah? And what will corrupt officers who are likely affiliated with this place do? This place will be deserted before any sort of sting operation takes place. They’re probably going to evacuate as soon as they find out we’re here. No. We’re taking them down. Right now.”

“And how do you propose we do that? We can’t exactly kill people or change hearts, you know!” Queen bit back just as harshly, refusing to stand down to Joker. Phoenix and Angel backed away slightly from the couple, allowing them space to argue.

“I know that!” The young man returned in a harsh tone. “But if what we’re assuming is correct, I can’t allow the people suffering in there to last another second when there’s something I can do about it right here, right now. Formalities and rules be damned. I just want to help people. And I don’t want what happened to Angel to happen to anybody else, especially when there’s something I can do about it.”

“Ren…” Angel’s voice was barely a whisper as she accidentally used the wrong name in surprise at his outburst.

Queen didn’t initially respond, but held his gaze instead. After a few tense seconds, she finally relented. Her voice lost her harshness when she spoke. “...You’re right. Letting the people in there suffer is something I can’t allow. But, how do we tackle this situation?”

 _“You guys have incoming! Multiple bad guys are starting to surround the storefront!”_ Mona’s voice suddenly cut in, which caused the four to go on high alert.

Joker cursed under his breath as he looked up, finally noticing a security camera in a corner of the room. “Of course they’d have eyes in here.” He ran over to the storage room door and shut it before pushing a spare desk in front, preventing anybody from getting in easily.

“Wait, but we haven’t seen any sort of screen with security footage on it. Is it maybe being relayed elsewhere?” Angel asked, finishing her recovery after the initial shock of finding out what lay behind the hidden door.

Bringing his wrist up to his mouth, Joker spoke into the comms device. “Noir, Fox, come in.”

_“Noir here! Do you want us to come outside and help?”_

“Negative. Instead, I want you to get into that back door in the club. I have a feeling the security system here and there are connected. See if there’s footage for the room we’re currently in, and maybe there’s a button or something to open up this door. We’ll do our best to hold them off until then. Mona, I want you giving us a play-by-play of the situation outside.

 _“Affirmative. Shall we use deadly force? It would likely be more time-efficient.”_ Fox asked, and in the background Angel could hear Noir… giggling? _What the...?_

“Of course not, unless it’s a last resort.” Joker said quickly, which shut down Noir’s excitement. “But I don’t see why you can’t use weapons as long as you use them in a non-lethal manner.”

“Joker!” Queen gasped. “Are you sure about that?”

“We’re in a tight spot - I think urgency takes precedence here.” Phoenix pointed out.

_“Understood. Hang tight everyone, we’ll do this as quickly as we can!”_

“Thanks, Noir.” Joker moved his wrist back down, and turned to the others in the room. “Now we just need to either buy some time, figure out if the door can be opened up on our end, or both. Let’s get to work.”

\----------

“How delightful; we finally get to do something exciting!” Noir exclaimed as her and Fox leaned against the wall close to the guarded door discreetly.

Fox said nothing, instead keeping his eyes focused on the guard posted outside the door. Noir followed his gaze to the man, then hummed.

“I think I have an idea on how to get rid of him… I trust you’ll know when to jump in?”

Noir looked back at Fox, who had a hand on his chin. “Very well. I will await your plan to take action, but I will step in if the situation becomes too dire.”

She nodded. “Ok! Well, let me work my magic!”

Noir took a deep breath, then took a look around her. After several seconds, she spied her target: a girl holding a full shot glass, about to toast with her friends. Noir stumbled forward and crashed into the girl, causing her to spill her shot all over her shirt.

If Noir was intimidated by the angry glare the girl gave her, she didn’t show it. Instead, she put on a drunken face and slurred her speech slightly. “I’msssorry! I’ll getyou another one…”

Before the girl could react, Noir swiped the empty shot glass out from her hands and pretended to stumble away. This time, she headed towards the door the man was guarding. Fortunately, he hadn’t seen the spectacle unfold, meaning Noir’s plan should be able to go off well without a hitch.

As she reached for the door knob, the guard moved in front of her. “Sorry, lady, but this door is for employees only.”

Noir looked up at him, holding the empty shot glass against her lips. “B-But, the bathrooms are occupied, and I need the bathroom _nowwww!_ ”

From the sigh the guard gave, Noir allowed herself an internal fist pump. He didn’t think she was any more than a drunk girl who’s had one too many drinks.

_Like a fly into the spider’s lair..._

Before he could do anything in response, Noir turned the door knob and pulled open the door with a surprising amount of force that a smaller, drunk girl shouldn’t have. The guard was caught off-balance from the door slamming into his back and he stumbled forward, which gave Noir time to slip inside.

She found herself in a dimly-lit hallway, but didn’t have much time to take in her surroundings before she felt the guard grab her arm.

“H-Hey, lady, you really can’t be in here. I’ll escort you to the public bathro-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence.

Giving up her drunken act, Noir wheeled on the man and used that inertia to slam the shot glass into his forehead. He let go of her hand and slumped against the wall, half-dazed, but still conscious. To finish him off, Noir grabbed his head with both her hands, and brought it down ruthlessly to meet her knee. He crumpled as soon as her knee and his forehead made contact.

“That’s for Futaba-chan…” She muttered under her breath with a growl.

She heard the door open again and jumped back into a defensive posture, but immediately relaxed when she saw it was Fox. He looked at the man on the ground, then back at Noir. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it after a few seconds.

She realized that her breathing was slightly ragged and heavy, and she held a scowl on her face. Noir brought her hands up to her cheeks, slapping them gently a few times.

“Well, shall we be going?” Noir said to fill in the empty silence, to which Fox nodded.

“Yes, let’s. We must act swiftly if we are to save Joker and the others.”

Noir nodded, and took the lead, walking quietly down the hallway. Fox followed close behind, but he was looking at the slumped body of the guard.

“Noir, what do you propose we do with that guard? It would be unwise to leave him here.”

The female thief stopped her advance, taking a brief glance back at the once-conscious man. Blood was dripping from his forehead from the smashed glass, and for the first time Noir looked down at her own hands to see patches of red forming underneath her white gloves, shards of glass likely pricking her skin. She disregarded it quickly, continuing forward. She could take them out later.

“There isn’t anywhere to put him. I suppose we’ll just have to hope he isn’t discovered too quickly.” Noir whispered, peeking around a corner. Upon seeing it was clear, she motioned to Fox to follow her. They made their way down the corridor, quickly checking each door they came across.

“Janitor closet, storage room, and an empty room with only a bed in it.” Fox called out from his side of the hall.

“Similar things here, unfortunately.” Noir answered. “And this hallway leads to a dead end… Is there perhaps another door in the club that we missed?”

Fox relaxed a little, raising his voice to a normal level since they were alone in the hallways. “I think it is highly improbable. As Mona said, the girl who matched our description came out that back door, and entered through this one. We had been watching the club door the entire time, yet she did not exit from it once she went in.”

“Perhaps there’s a hidden door somewhere around her, just like Joker’s current predicament?” Noir offered.

“That could be possible, but weren’t we tasked with finding a control room of sorts? A hidden door would likely have the same issue of not having a way to get inside.”

Noir sighed, tugging at her hair. “Maybe we should-”

She was cut off by the sound of the bed moving in the spare room. The two of them froze as the sound continued, but Fox recovered and pulled Noir to the side of the hallway that would at least make them unseen from inside the room.

A few seconds later, a heavily tattooed man in a tank top emerged from the room. Fortunately for the two thieves, he didn’t notice them as he set off down the hallway, softly whistling. Noir was going to motion to Fox for him to slip into the room, but she noticed the man holding what looked like a remote control in his hand. She silently got Fox’s attention, then pointed to the remote.

Fox nodded, then without a word, took off in a sprint down the hall. The sounds of his footsteps were enough to get his attention, but by the time the tattooed goon turned around, it was too late. Fox lowered his shoulder and crashed into him with a tackle, sending them both onto the ground. As Noir ran up behind the two, she saw Fox clamp a hand over the goon’s mouth, with his other arm pressing down on his throat to cut off airflow.

The tattooed man was quite beefy, but it would be a mistake to underestimate Fox’s strength. He had kept his training up since his time in the Metaverse, and while the artist was the literal definition of a skinny, lanky male, his strength was nothing to sneeze at. As much as he tried, he couldn’t break free from Fox’s grasp. The struggling goon’s motions and frantic cries through Fox’s hands grew weaker, and eventually, went silent.

Letting a deep sigh out, Fox stood up, wiping his forehead. “That was a close call. But nevermind that; can you help me hide his body in one of the storage rooms?”

Noir merely nodded, grabbing one of his legs while Fox grabbed the other. They dragged him into one of the storage rooms, stashing him in a spare trunk that just about fit him. Before the duo closed it, Noir leaned forward and set two fingers to the goon’s neck.

“Whew… he’s breathing. Joker would have had our hide if we went too far.”

“I suppose.” Fox mused as he shut the trunk. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the remote the goon had in his hand earlier. “Shall we go see what this does?”

Noir took it from his hands and studied it. There was only a single button on the remote, and it looked more like a garage opener than anything else. “I believe I might know what this does, but let us test my theory.”

She led Fox back into the room with the bed, and pushed the button. After a short delay, the bed began to shift on its own, revealing a hidden stairway underneath.

The floof clasped her hands in surprise, unable to contain her excitement. “A hidden trapdoor under the bed! How cliche, but exciting! Let’s see where it goes!”

Stepping down the stairway, the pair entered another hallway, but it looked different - dark, dank, and… smelled musty?

Noir shuddered at the smell, and she heard Fox go “Disgusting.” behind her.

“L-Let’s move quickly, Fox. I think something is horribly wrong here.”

“Agreed. Let’s move.”

The two continued down the hallway, stopping at the first door they came across. Opening it slowly, they realized that they were looking into the back alley mentioned by Mona. Down the street, there were several goons standing outside a storefront, their attention directed to the interior.

“So, this would be where they exited, and everyone must be holed up in there. But, if this passage continues onward, why go into the alley to begin with? Surely it would make more sense to remain within the secrecy of this passage?”

Noir hummed in agreement as an answer, shutting the door. “Let’s explore further. There’s a door at the end of this hallway. As much as I’d like to check all the rooms in here, that one looks like it’s the most important.”

Approaching said door, Noir peeked inside, and breathed a sigh of relief. Computers lined a long desk, and multiple monitors hung on the wall. This was clearly a control room of some sort, and on one of the monitors, she noticed Joker and the rest of the thieves. However, the problem was the three men in the room, all wearing over-ear headphones. Fortunately, that meant they couldn’t hear the near silent sounds of the door opening.

Peeking over her head, Fox assessed the situation, then motioned for Noir to close the door. Once it was closed, they retreated a short ways back, ducking behind the cover of some boxes in the hallway, to assess the situation.

“Can we reasonably take on three enemies with just the two of us?” Noir wondered aloud, weighing their options.

Fox was lost in thought for a few moments, before suddenly perking up. “I do not think we will need to - we can bring in back-up.”

Bringing his wrist up to his mouth, he spoke. “Mona, come to the back entryway that girl appeared from. We will let you in; you’re needed inside for a confrontation.”

_“Right, on my way. Joker, what’s your status?”_

Fox slid over to the door, opening it for Mona, while Joker responded.

_“They’re not in here yet, but they’ve been banging on the door. We’ve got all the furniture in the room stacked against it, and there are no windows in here, so we should be fine for the moment. But please hurry, this waiting is putting me on edge.”_

Several seconds later found Mona, Noir, and Fox gathered behind the boxes, planning their ambush.

“So, you say there’s three of them? We’ll each take one on. I’ll go for the shortest so it’s easiest for me to jump up to their face. There isn’t much I can really do aside from distract them, so whoever knocks out their opponent first will need to assist me with mine. Although, a lot of this could be avoided if we found a way to knock them out in one hit…” Mona started.

“Shall we inspect the other doorways in this hall? They may be storage rooms with objects we can use as blunt weapons.” Noir said hopefully.

“Good idea, Noir! Let’s take a look at the one right next to us.”

Making sure the coast was clear, the trio stood up and stood on either side of the doorway in a breaching position. Noir, who was next to the door handle, looked at the other two, who nodded. With a sudden force, she turned the knob and threw the door open, busting in while brandishing her knife, and froze.

Noir could only describe the sight she saw in front of her as utterly abominable.

A girl, completely stark naked, was laying on a bed on one side of the room. Her eyes were completely glossed and half-lid, clearly on some sort of drug. Her body was covered in black and blue bruises, with scratch and whip marks across her bare chest, one of those marks still bleeding. She made almost no reaction to the sudden entrance the thieves made except for a small whimper and an attempt to curl into a fetal position, but she only made it halfway. The other side of the room had a toilet and sink, and a table next to that held an assortment of sex toys that ranged from quite tame, to things Noir would consider as torture devices. Turning back to the girl, Noir noticed that one of her legs was chained to the legs of the bed. The chain looked to be long enough for her to traverse the room, but nowhere further. There was another door on the other side of the room, which led to an unknown destination.

The three intruders stood in stunned silence for what felt like an eternity, taking in the sight.

“H-Holy shit…” Mona croaked out, his voice so hoarse Noir barely registered what he said.

Noir wanted to speak, but her voice had vanished. The unspeakable horror in front of her made her head spin, and she felt herself drop to her knees.

Her mind raced, and she found herself back at Shujin. Back when Kamoshida would make passes at her. She did her best to hold him off, but every once in a while he would do something to make her deeply uncomfortable. She remembered one time he even called her to the PE faculty office, which resulted in him spanking her ass as she was on her way out. She didn’t speak of it to anyone, as she hadn't become her rebellious self yet, but the memory now burned fresh within her.

And then, there were the many unspeakable acts Sugimura did with her while she was still his fiance. The things that Noir never wanted to think of again, yet this girl in front of her was experiencing it daily. Not to mention she was completely drugged, too.

All the shit that she has had to endure over the past 6 years as a woman CEO of one of the biggest companies in Japan. The people who constantly tried to take her company away from her. The internal company corruption. She constantly had to battle the malevolent forces that never seemed to leave her alone. It all came back to her this one single moment, overflowing her with all the grief she’d endured, all the sorrow, all the pain, and anger, and stress, and hate. It all came back to her in one emotional dump.

And to think that it’s possible the police commissioner is behind all of this? That he could be supporting some corrupt power within the political world who uses sex trafficking as a means to make dirty money? This was the same police force that Queen once looked up to...

Noir’s mind raced at 1000 miles an hour, until finally, it was too much.

Then, Noir broke.

“This is… unspeakable… They will pay. They will all pay.” She growled intensely, gripping her knife so tightly that it shook in her hand and her knuckles went white. Before either of the other two could react, she stood up and stormed out the room and down the hallway towards the control room.

Behind her, she could hear Mona call out to her. “Noir, wait! Don’t do anything rash, we need to think this through!”

Noir heard him, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to see people suffer anymore. She had so many years pent up of people taking advantage of her. Of people close to her who turned on her. Of dealing with people who would ruin the lives of others, including her friends, just for their personal gain. And now, it was happening again. The corruption was back and attempting to not only destroy everything she held dear, but also do something as horrible as robbing innocent people of their lives for illegal profits. Noir wanted nothing more than to end it, once and for all.

To hell with managing Okumura Foods.

To hell with opening a homegrown cafe.

To hell with her personal image as a CEO.

This was her mission now.

Throwing open the door to the control room, she quickly reached for the guard closest to her, grabbed his head, pulled him towards her...

And slit his throat.

The other two didn’t have much time to react. By the time they both turned around, Noir already thrust her knife directly into the eye of one of them, killing him instantly. The third made a reach to grab her, but she swiftly kneed him directly in the groin, causing him to double over in pain. While he recoiled, she drew the knife out from her second victim’s head, and plunged it into the top of her third without hesitation.

As his body fell to the floor, she looked at her gloves. Previously dotted with spots of her own blood, they were now a solid red, completely stained by the blood of those before her.

But, Noir didn’t care.

_They deserved it._

She looked at the three lifeless bodies on the floor, and scowled as she took back her knife from the head of her third victim, wiping off the blade with her gloved hand.

She was quick. She was brutal. She was efficient.

She was Noir.

And she was a killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup. It's gonna be that kind of fic. It just took a bit of setup to get here.
> 
> It's always been my vision, to be honest. I prefer the darker fics that contain elements such as murder, since they often introduce morality as a big factor. The thieves having to inevitably battle their moral compass as they continue on with their pursuits will be a recurring theme throughout. I understand that not all people enjoy fics that get dark like this one will, but that's the plans I have for it. Phantom Thievery in the real world isn't pretty, unfortunately. Now, that's not to say this fic won't have any lighthearted moments anymore. There will be times the thieves celebrate, or hang out, or laugh, etc, but the thieves have some tough battles and hurdles to overcome in the future.
> 
> All that out of the way, this chapter took me a long time to write. It's the longest one I've posted so far by a couple of thousand words, actually. Mostly because I just kept on writing and writing and never really found a good spot to stop the chapter until where I did. Either way though, I hope everyone enjoyed it! As always, I'll be interested to see peoples' comments and thoughts on the chapter.


	18. Trouble in Paradise 2: Nightclub Bugaloo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for 100 kudos, everyone!

“I need to speak to Ren. Where is he?”

Blondie, spiky blonde, and coffee man stared at her, dumbfounded.

“You're out of your room! Do you… remember everything?” blondie asked.

She shook her head. “Not everything. I know you’re my friend. Same with spiky blonde over there. I know of a few memories when we did stuff together. Still don’t know my name or yours, though.” She paused. “But, I know that Ren is important to me somehow. I need to talk to him.”

They exchanged glances, frowning.

"But we've told you our names. I'm ___, that's _____, and your dad's name is ______. Your name is ______."

She practically growled at blondie. "I've told you all before, I can't register names! Stop telling me them as if it'll make a difference! If anything, it just makes me more frustrated. Especially now that I remember some things but not everything…"

For once, the other three were silent for a spell.

Her eyes fell to the floor in thought, which caused her to practically jump out of her skin when blondie yelped.

"OH! You say you don't register names, right? But you know Ren's name!"

She sighed. "I mean, duh, I've already made that connection! That's why I need to talk to him. But I haven't seen him since that one night that cafe was filled with the Phantom Thieves."

"Hold on a sec, how do you know who all the Phantom Thieves are?" Coffee man asked, an eyebrow raised.

"The box of photos you brought me. They had writing on the back that helped me piece together that I, and all the others in those photos, are the Phantom Thieves."

"You seem to have knowledge of the Phantom Thieves as a group, but not necessarily who's in it?"

“From the photos. I know it’s the people who were in the coffee shop several days ago. But I don’t know anything about anybody. I did some internet browsing. It wasn’t hard to find all the news about them several years ago, but the only person with any public information released is Ren.” She said matter-of-factly. “But stop stalling. I need to talk to him. Where is he?”

Spiky blonde scratched his head. “Uhh, why are you askin’ us? Just find him through gps.”

She tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, uhh… Well, last I heard, you have a special phone app that you can use to track his location. Can’t you just use that?”

“I have that?”

“Yeah! Didn’t you check your entire phone? You must have seen that app!”

“I saw that one app that seems to track gps coordinates, do you mean that app?”

“Yeah! Those coordinates are Ren’s phone’s. It tracks him at all times. You did open and check that app while going through your phone, right?” spiky blonde repeated.

“I mean I did, but there isn’t a name or anything to go with it, it’s just a gps signal… How was I supposed to know that it was Ren?”

At hearing that, spiky blonde backed down. “I guess that makes sense… Well, where is he now? Just out of curiosity.”

She said nothing but pulled out her phone instead, opening up the app. The other three in the room made the motions to come close to her and look, but she stepped back. “Hang on, I’ll show you once it loads. Don’t get close to me.”

Several seconds later, his location popped up. “Oh, he’s in… He’s in a spice shop?”

Pigtail blondie cocked her head to the side. “Uhh, a spice shop? Are you sure? He’s supposed to be at a nightclub tonight…”

She held her phone out for blondie to look at, slightly protesting once she snatched the phone away from her. The three others crowded around the phone, taking note of Ren’s position.

“Oh, I see, so the spice shop is out back behind the club. But still, why there? I hope the kid’s doing alright…” Coffee man muttered.

She sighed, and leaned against the wall. _He better be alright, he’s the only person who can help me get my memories back…_

\----------

Joker was everything _but_ alright.

“You did _WHAT_ , NOIR?!?” He practically screamed into his comm device, his voice laced in a dangerous rage.

The rest of the thieves were silent, but they were equally shocked at the update.

“ _S-She killed 3 of them, yeah…_ ” Mona’s voice came through the comms, but it was barely above a whisper.

“Answer me, Noir!!” Joker’s voice was sharp and hostile, which was unusual to hear being directed towards a teammate.

“ _It’s a sex trafficking den. These people are monsters and deserve no remorse._ ”

Noir’s reply was cold and distant, which made Joker chew on his lip, closing his eyes. Something was off with her, but he wouldn’t be able to fix it now. They had to get out of this situation first.

Taking a deep breath, the leader forced himself to regain calmness. After a dozen or so more seconds, he opened his eyes.

“We’ll discuss this later. Do you have a way to open the door?”

Noir didn’t reply, but a few seconds later, the hidden door suddenly whirred and swung inwards, revealing a dark hallway.

The smell hit them like a wall.

It was dirty, dark, and disgusting. Next to him, Angel’s knees gave out from under her. He quickly slung her arm around him to keep her upright.

“I-I’m sorry, it’s just… bringing back bad memories…” She said quietly, eyes glued to the floor.

“I understand. Queen, Phoenix, take point. We’ll follow.” Joker nodded, surprising himself with how soft his voice had become since his rage less than a minute earlier.

The other two wordlessly nodded and moved ahead, into the hallway proper.

Bringing up his wrist, Joker spoke. “Close the door behind us, see if there’s any useful data or something similar that you can steal, then get out of there. They’ll come for the control room once they realize what happened.”

“ _Let them come._ ” Noir said flatly, her voice just as cold as before, but the hidden door shut behind them. Joker took a second to shake the confusion and realize that her statement was directed to her situation, not his.

“Noir, that’s an order. You’ve done enough to help us; you need to retreat for now. There’s too many out there for you to deal with, even if you resort to… lethal methods.”

There was a tense moment of silence.

“ _Fine. But I’m going to get this woman out of here, no matter what it takes._ ”

“For the love of Lavenza… Joker, you need to see this...” Queen called out nervously from a doorway.

Already fearing the worst, Joker gently removed Angel’s arm around him, and leaned her against the wall gingerly. “I want you to stay strong and stand for me, ok?”

Angel meekly nodded in response. Joker moved up next to Queen to look into the doorway, and saw…

What he described as a pocket of hell.

Joker didn’t know this at the time, but what he and Noir saw were very similar. It was a barren room, except for a bed, toilet, sink, and small table. A completely naked girl lay motionless on the bed, her face buried in the mattress. Her back was covered in what looked like scars, or perhaps lashes from a whip. One foot hung limply off the bed, and Joker noticed her ankle was chained. Her arms were above her head at a weird, stretched position, until Joker realized her wrists were bound by near-invisible fishing line that was wrapped around the bedposts. The rest of the room was disgusting and smelled like sweat. Pools of unidentifiable liquid were on the floor, and Joker spotted clamps lying next to the bed, which caused him to shudder.

“Un-fucking believable…” He growled under his breath.

“I’ve seen a lot as an officer, but this is something else…” Queen groaned, holding a hand to her mouth as she stifled a gag.

Behind the two, Phoenix peered over their heads to get a better look, but she found herself quickly regretting it.

“God… This is…”

“Angel, don’t look at this… Please...” Ren called back to the hallway, then walked forward. He brandished his knife, then deftly cut the fishing line that held the girl’s hands to the bedposts. She didn't move, or even flinch at the action, which caused Ren to furrow his brow.

“H-Hey, are you alright?”

No response.

He looked back at Queen and Phoenix, who looked onward with troubled eyes. Turning back, he took a deep, shaky breath, then slowly rolled over the girl.

Thankfully, she was breathing, albeit shallowly. Her half-lidded eyes stared up at Joker, but he felt more like her gaze was going straight through him. And not in the perceptive way, either.

“Pleas… b’gntl…” Her hoarse voice had trouble reaching his ears, and certain syllables didn’t make it past her throat.

Joker felt his own throat tighten up. “I-I’m not a… customer. I’m… I’m here to rescue you.”

“Huh…? Wha…” The girl’s eyes narrowed even more, and her mouth was agape as she studied Joker. “Oh… Kay.”

“She’s drugged outta her Goddamn mind.” He spat, standing up. “We gotta get her, and any other victims, out of here ASAP. This is our new top priority.” He brought his wrist up to his face. “There’s more down here, too. I would say to call the police and give them an anonymous tip, but I don’t trust them. No offense, Queen (“None taken.”). We need to get them out of here ourselves. Noir, can you call a high occupancy vehicle to us?”

“ _I can call a limo. It’s not exactly discreet, but it can hold a lot of people. And don’t worry; I’ve known the driver for my entire life. He is loyal and won’t say a thing._ ”

“That could actually work. I don’t think our enemy would expect a getaway in a limo, especially if we get into it without being seen.” Phoenix chimed in, and Joker looked behind him to see her picking the lock on the girl’s ankle.

“It’s worth a try, and we don’t have many options right now anyway. Go for it.” Joker made the call, as he stood up from the bed. “I’m going to look around the hall, to see how many are held captive here. Noir, are there any more prisoners where you are?”

“ _No, it’s just the one up here._ ”

“Understood. If that’s the case, then please try to sneak out with her and to safety. Once you call in the car, call Skull. Tell him that our situation is 'Code W'. He will know what it means. Meanwhile, one of us needs to try to find a way out of here that isn’t through the hidden door.”

“ _Roger, I’ll keep everyone posted._ ”

“If there was another way in, we’d already be overrun.” Queen spoke up as she helped the girl to her feet once Phoenix freed her. “That, or either they’re waiting for us on all exits with an ambush at each one.

“ _If that is the case, then why do they not simply move in and apprehend us? They surely outnumber us by a large margin._ ” Yusuke wondered.

“It’s due to one of two reasons.” Makoto answered. “Either they don’t want to waste the manpower coming after us and would rather wait outside since we cannot escape, or... They’re afraid of us.”

“Afraid? W-Why would they be afraid?”

Joker, who had just stepped into the hallway with his eyes glued to the floor, looked up to see Angel standing in front of him. Her face was filled with horror as she took in the scene going on behind him, but he could see she was doing her best to contain it.

“Angel, please-”

“I-It’s fine, Joker. I’m fine. I just… I need to face it. I can’t run forever. A-And I won’t be any help if I stand here and sulk.” She held onto the door frame to support herself, breathing heavily, but Angel stood her ground.

Joker hummed deeply, considering her words as he looked her up and down. “... Just don’t overdo it, please. If it gets to be too much, We’ll be there for you. But, if you want to help, I ask that you check the doors and see if there are any other victims, or perhaps a possible way out. You don't need to step inside a room. Just let me know and I'll take care of everything."

Angel took a deep breath, then nodded wordlessly. She and Joker walked down the hall to find what else lay in wait while Queen and Phoenix assisted the prisoner into the hall.

 _“The limo has been called, and I will call Skull next. But before that; Queen, why would they be afraid of us?”_ Noir asked over the comms. _“I still find it suspicious that they would allow us to buy more time strategizing.”_

_Well, aside from the fact that one of us murdered 3 of them in seconds…_

Joker knew he couldn’t say that, but he certainly thought it.

The thief opened another door to reveal another dungeon room with a prisoner as Queen’s voice came through the comms, now out of earshot. _"I think it’s because we’re the Phantom Thieves. Our methods were never found out, and these people aren’t Shido’s men. They probably know we hold supernatural powers, but only that much. Fortunately, they don’t know that we can’t use them in reality.”_

“I see. Well, that buys us time. Let’s explore the area and round up as many people as we can while we bide our time. Noir, our escape is riding on Skull. Have you called him yet?”

_“I am doing so now.”_

Ren sighed in a silent thanks as he bent down to wake the next drugged girl from her stupor.

\----------

“I’m sure he’s fine. This is Ren we’re talking about!” Ryuji provided in hopes of improving the mood of the room. “Maybe there’s-”

He was cut off by his phone ringing. Normally, it wouldn’t phase him, but the ringtone going off was a special one he had set for all the members of the thieves. Ann knew this, too, and crowded around him when he pulled out his phone to reveal Haru was calling.

“Why would she be calling when in the middle of a mission?” Ann wondered aloud as Ryuji answered the phone.

Ryuji set his phone on speaker, so everyone could hear. “Haru? Is everythi-”

 _“Code W."_ She cut him off unceremoniously.

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “What’s going on? Are you for real?”

 _“Joker’s orders.”_ She said flatly, then hung up on him.

“Umm… is it just me, or did anybody else notice that Haru sounded… very off?” Ann asked the room. “And what was that Code W thing she mentioned?”

Ryuji cursed under his breath. “Ann, we gotta go help them. They’re in major trouble.” Turning to redhead, he reached out for her phone. “Hey, we need to borrow your phone. We really need it to find Ren.”

She jerked her phone away from him, her eyes narrowing. “I’m not just going to give my phone to somebody I don’t really know.”

Ryuji winced lightly, but took a deep breath. “You want to talk to Ren again, right? If you don’t give me your phone to track him, you’ll never get that chance.”

She crossed her arms. “Why is that?”

“Because he’d be dead.”

That seemed to have an effect on the amnesiac.

Wordlessly, she handed her phone over to Ryuji, who breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks. I’ll bring him home, don’t ya worry.”

“Uhh, hello? I’m still here! What’s Code W?” Ann gripped Ryuji’s arm and spun him to face her.

Despite everything, Ryuji smirked. “What if I told you Ren has a secret stash of weapons, courtesy of a connection of his, hidden at Leblanc?”

“He has WHAT?” Sojiro roared, the gravity of the situation lost to him due to the now-known fact that his cafe contains an unknown stash of (probably) illegal weapons in it.

“Now’s not the time, Boss!” Ryuji argued back. “We got more important things to worry about!” Turning to Ann, his tone softened a touch. “Just trust me. Let’s go save our leader.”

Ann stared at Ryuji for a few seconds, then put a determined look on her face. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

\----------

“Where the hell is everybody?”

Joker wished he didn’t know the answer to his own question, but he did.

Except for 4 rooms that each held a single girl who had fallen victim to sex trafficking, there wasn’t a soul to be found. He would’ve been satisfied with rescuing just the 4 girls had they also not stumbled across more empty cells, numbering 20 in total. The girl that Noir rescued brought the rescued total up to 5. The only door that wasn’t a cell turned out to be a storage room, which the thieves + victims were now camping out in.

“They probably saw us coming, and escaped. I guess the girls weren’t too important to them if they just left some of them to be found, so they grabbed who they could and left behind the rest…” Queen said dejectedly, looking at the 4 girls huddling in the corner. While they were still quite heavily drugged, they seemed to know who each other were, and they took comfort in it. So far, Queen hadn’t come across many sex trafficking dens in her time as an officer, but normally the girls weren’t this close. Their captors would keep them apart deliberately - it would be easier to control them that way. But then again, why would they leave 4 of the women here? Or were there only 4 women here at the moment, but this place held a capacity for more when it was needed?

Queen’s thoughts were interrupted when Joker slammed his fist into the wall with no warning, making everyone else in the room jump. “But HOW? The spice shop is the only way out! There’s-”

 _“Joker, was that one of you, or did something just make a loud thumping sound?”_ Fox called over the comms, which caused the thieves to exchange looks.

“No, that was me... So you must be close. Where did the sound come from?”

_“Our current location is a storage room that was deeper into the tunnels. The thumping seemed to come from an adjacent room. Can you thump once more?”_

Joker obliged, slamming his fist into the wall just as hard at the same location. Since it was less rage-induced, he found himself shaking his hand in slight pain, leaning on the wall. He closed his eyes in an effort to calm himself.

_“Ah, yes! We are in adjacent rooms! Oh, and there appears to be...”_

Suddenly, Joker’s wall gave out on him. He fell backwards, landing on his back with a thud. Groaning, he opened his eyes to see Fox standing over him, peering down with a curious look. Joker could just about see Noir behind him, but she was looking elsewhere.

“Why are you on the ground?” Fox asked in typical Fox fashion.

“Fox! Noir! Mona! Thank goodness, at least all of us are together again.” Queen let out a sigh of relief as Joker stood up, rubbing his back.

“Ah, yes, I’m fine, don’t worry, thanks for asking…” He grumbled sarcastically, his mood already improving. Meeting up with the rest of the team was a huge boon for the thieves. “By the way, how did you open up the wall? I mean, clearly it’s a door, but…”

Fox tilted his head to the side. “Indeed, it is clearly a door, but a sliding one. Can you not see the wedge to stick your hand into?”

Joker leaned closer to the door, then finally noticed a tiny indent that would’ve been nigh impossible to pick out. He half-lidded his eyes, staring at Fox.

“And how would you expect me to see that in this dim light? It’s so subtle it requires an artist’s perception to see!”

Phoenix walked over to Joker, crossing her arms. “Did you lose your Third Eye ability? You mentioned you possessed such a power when you were a Phantom Thief, but it didn’t seem to be connected to the Metaverse. Would it have disappeared as well?”

Joker could only blink dumbly.

“I… Honestly forgot I had it. The last time I used it was for a second last week when Futaba was attacked, and before that… It’s only been brought up a handful of times over the past several years. Last week’s usage was in an adrenaline-filled moment; I guess it was more on instinct. So, I just… didn’t remember, I guess.” He scratched his head sheepishly, and focused on his eyesight in a special manner. Sure enough, the Third Eye activated, and the once near-invisible indent on the door in the dim light of the storage room became clear as day.

He relaxed his eyes, deactivating it, and facepalmed himself.

“God, I’m an idiot.”

Queen groaned, but patted him on the back with a smile. Phoenix sighed, but she was also smiling. Fox crossed his arms, and Angel was heard trying to stifle laughter. Noir didn’t react at all, her sharp gaze held steadfast to the floor. She was leaned up against a storage cabinet, arms crossed.

_Have her gloves always been red…?_

A large part of Joker wanted to talk to her. But, he determined there was a risk of causing a potential schism between the two of them. The last thing the thieves needed in this perilous position was to fight amongst themselves.

And so, they had no other choice, but to wait. To wait, and to hope that Skull remembers Code W well enough to get them out of this situation.

\----------

Ann had done many things in her lifetime, but riding the subway in Tokyo while hiding multiple firearms in a small duffel bag was a first.

Fortunately, she had Ryuji with her, but he wasn’t any less nervous.

The two of them did have a toooootally well thought-out excuse: very accurate cosplay. The guns weren’t even real, either. Or at least, they didn’t fire live ammunition. But they were certainly a step above airsoft weapons.

In fact, most of the guns fired rubber, non-lethal bullets that police use to quell particularly nasty riots without killing anybody. Ryuji was more than adamant on getting a certain point across that they did still hurt like hell, though. And to Ann’s surprise, she was happy to hear it.

There were also a few tranquilizer pistols that shot darts that could incapacitate somebody within seconds. Ryuji said an unfortunate victim would be out cold for an hour.

Ann decided not to question where Ren had obtained such potent tranq darts.

Regardless, killing people wasn’t in her agenda, no matter who they were. But hurting bad people? Or even tranquilizing them? Now that was something she could get behind.

The two were largely silent on their train journey, but they spoke volumes to each other through their connected hands. Ann conveyed her nervousness by drumming her fingers across Ryuji’s knuckles. Ryuji would comfort her with a squeeze and a smile. And every time Ann looked like she was thinking too hard about certain, less opportune outcomes of tonight’s stunt, Ryuji would draw patterns into Ann’s palm.

He kept it cryptic, and Ann realized it was a ploy to get her to take her mind off of worse matters.

_That’s a circle… That one’s a heart. Is that… an hourglass? Ok, that one’s a star._

Her mind preoccupied with guessing shapes, the train ride went by much quicker than it was going before.

When they reached their stop, the two of them shouldered their duffel bags and stepped off the train. The first chance she got where the two of them weren’t being pushed around by the bustle of human traffic, Ann leaned in and kissed Ryuji on the cheek.

“You might be a moron, but you’re the most emotionally capable moron I’ve ever met, Ryuji.”

Ryuji didn’t say anything, but he blushed while chuckling.

The pair walked in silence, hands still connected, as they followed Futaba’s phone to Ren’s location. As they neared their destination, Ann felt her unease return.

“H-Hey, if we don’t make-”

“Don’t tell me that. We’ll make it.” Ryuji cut her off, squeezing her hand again. “We’re the damn PTs, for crying out loud. We’ve been in worse situations.”

Ann sighed, but smiled. In the span of minutes, she had been comforted twice by her boyfriend. God, he was the best.

“Ok, fine. When we make it… We should go somewhere. Just the two of us. We haven’t done that in a really long time, you know?” Ann said, a slight blush across her face.

Ryuji looked up towards the night sky. “I mean, we’re probably about to get real busy, ya know? Our new job is pretty important. And time-demanding, on top of that.” He looked down, back at Ann. “But after _everything_ is done, I sure as hell will need to take a break!”

Ann giggled. “Sounds like a plan! We could go to…” Her voice trailed off as she looked down an alleyway to see two men in tank tops, one standing and one sitting by a ramen booth. No, wait, they weren’t standing there for the ramen. Their attention was a door on the other side of the alleyway.

Ann silently nudged Ryuji as she let go of his hand. He was about to protest, but after Ann pointed out the suspicious scene, he nodded his head.

“Looks like that’s our way in. How ya wanna handle this?” Ryuji asked as he studied the scene in front of the pair.”

Ann cocked her lips. “I’m not sure. The alley is pretty busy, so we can’t exactly go in guns blazing…”

“But there’s only two of them. I bet we can take them!”

“This isn’t the you-know-where, Ryuji! These thugs are definitely stronger than us!”

“But we have experience!”

Ann shook her head. “Even if we can overpower them, what about witnesses? We’d be done for. No, we need to be quiet about it. Especially because…” She pointed to somewhere further down the alley, which held more similarly tattooed men. They seemed to be patrolling the alley. “They would just come and overpower us if they heard any commotion. ”

Ann didn’t say anything to Ryuji, but she noticed the tattoos these men wore were the same ones as those who attempted to kidnap her a week ago.

She shuddered.

Ryuji didn’t notice, but he did seem to have an idea. “Ooooh, how about this? Ann, have ya ever heard of Assassin’s Creed?”

\----------

“They’re looking the other way, Skull. Now’s our chance.”

_“Sweet, it’s go time, Panther!”_

Panther hung up from her call, and briskly walked towards her designated target. From the other side of the alley, she saw Skull doing the same.

It was too late for the thug duo to realize what was going on by the time they noticed something was wrong.

Skull and Panther, in unison, each subtly drew tranquilizer pistols from their bags. Panther’s target started to stand up, but she jammed the barrel into his stomach and pulled the trigger. After a few seconds, she felt him go limp. She lowered him into his seat, thankful that he wore sunglasses that hid his now closed eyes.

Looking over, she noticed things have gone just as well for Skull. He flashed a grin and gave her a thumbs up as they stuffed the pistols back into their bags. WIthout further communication, the couple sprinted across the alley, opened the mystery door, and slipped inside.

Once they shut it, Skull gave a fist pump. “The classic hidden blade strategy! That was freakin awesome!”

Panther giggled, but chided him. “Keep your voice down! There could be other enemies in here.”

They took the time of silence to reload their tranq guns, then set out to explore the dimly-lit hallway they came into.

\----------

Their situation was not ideal.

It had been around 30 minutes since Noir hung up with Skull, and they hadn’t heard back from him. Joker hoped Skull just forgot to reply and that was that, but it was hard to not overanalyze everything when the lives of all your friends, plus 5 victims of sex trafficking, were on the line.

It didn’t help that the entire room was tense, either. Noir continued to be distant, her mind nigh unreadable. Fox had whipped out his sketchpad (seriously, he brought that with him?) and started drawing. Phoenix was attempting to talk to the victims, but wasn’t having too much luck due to their drugged status. Queen, Angel, and Joker sat together on a big metal case of alcohol, quietly conversing.

Mona occasionally scouted out around the area as a means of keeping tabs of the hallways to ensure they weren’t being snuck up upon. But after the 4th time Mona insisted to look around in the last 15 minutes, Joker sighed and took his comms microphone on his wrist off, and told Morgana to place his and Angel’s at strategic locations. So now, they at least had some sort of advanced warning if something was coming.

So when one of their hallway monitors picked up footsteps coming their way, they had the time to get into opportune hiding spots and prepare an ambush.

Joker briefly considered attempting his usual backflip to ambush their enemy. Only briefly. Remembering that he couldn’t jump as high as he could in the Metaverse ended that thought quickly.

The barrel of a pistol peeking through the doorway cut off his theatrical ideas for ambushes. And it all but evaporated once he noticed who was wielding the gun.

“Skull? Panther?” He called out, standing up slowly from his hiding place to not spook the couple.

“Joker! Thank God! You’re ok!” Panther ran up to her leader and gave him a tight hug.

As the two embraced, Skull patted Joker on the back. “I’m glad we found ya, but where’s everyone else?”

Joker released Skull, and leaned back against a crate. “We’re good, guys. Come out.”

\----------

Panther’s day had already been hectic, but the newest surprises of the night only solidified that feeling.

As the thieves came out from their hiding spots, Panther’s eyes immediately gravitated towards the girl with long black hair and chocolate colored eyes. She was smiling at her expectantly, as if she had been waiting for this encounter.

_“SHIHO?!?”_

Panther nearly screeched as she ran towards her best friend, tackling her in a fierce hug. The force nearly pushed them onto the ground, but Shiho knew it was coming and had braced herself.

“Actually, it’s Angel! Codenames, remember?”

Panther parted with her to get a good look at her face. “Angel? _ARE YOU A PHANTOM THIEF NOW?”_

“Quiet down! The entire building will know right where we are if you keep that up!” Queen scolded the blonde.

“R-Right, sorry…” Panther sighed, now a little more composed. “I have so many questions. Are you a Phantom Thief now? How did you find Joker? Are you here on your own? _Why are you even in Tokyo?”_

Angel giggled. “Honorary member of the Phantom Thieves. I insisted on it. But we have more important problems right now…”

Her voice trailed off, and her eyes avoided Panther’s. She followed her friend’s gaze, her mouth opening in disbelief when she saw what the other was looking at.

“No… No way… Are they…?”

Angel could only nod sadly.

Panther swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked on, horrified. 5 girls were sitting on the floor, huddled next to each other. 4 of them were wearing jackets (given to them by those who were wearing extra layers to spare), but one of them had nothing on. They looked completely dazed and distant, as if they had been…

Panther shuddered so hard, Angel gripped her shoulders to steady her.

“I know it’s hard, Panther… I can’t - and won’t - forgive them either.”

The blonde nodded, but her mind wasn’t totally in on it. The shock of what the thieves had stumbled into tonight was still washing over her, but she shook Angel off of her so she could take off her signature varsity jacket. She walked over to the unclothed girl, and gently draped the jacket over her shoulders.

When the girl didn’t even respond or react to the gesture, Panther stifled a sob as she stood up. There were a few terse seconds, followed by her screaming and punching the wall with all her might.

She took a few seconds to steady herself, shaking her hand off, before growling, “These bastards… We’re going to track every last one of them down, and they’re all going to pay.”

“They will, we’ll make sure of it. But for now, we need to move. Noir, is the car ready?” Phoenix asked as she attempted to help the one of the girls get up on their feet.

“Yes.” She said distantly, still focused on the floor.

“Good. We need one person per girl to assist with them walking, if possible. The rest of us will divide between a front and rear guard. We have to protect them first; these are civilians who deserve to have their lives back.” Joker said, all business. “And everybody gets a gun. Let’s arm up.”

As Skull and Panther opened the duffel bags, the thieves gathered around to look inside. The duffels contained a whole assortment of weapons, much to everyone’s delight.

“These look… real. Actually, they _are_ real, aren’t they? Queen asked as she held up a revolver, spinning the chamber.

“They are, but they fire rubber rounds. Non-lethal, but they still hurt like hell. There’s tranquilizer pistols, too. Everybody needs at least one tranq gun, just in case.” Joker answered as he grabbed two tranquilizer pistols, sticking them into his belt. He then grabbed a rubber round pistol, and stuck it in his coat pocket opposite his knife.

The thieves found themselves to be gravitated to their old style of weapons. Skull had a sawed-off shotgun, while Panther found an smg to her liking, Fox grabbed a rifle, and even Noir got a grenade launcher that shot heavy rubber balls that explode into smaller rubber pellets.

Phoenix and Angel, not having personal preferences just yet, took longer to decide. Eventually, Phoenix found herself gravitating towards a P90, a type of Personal Defense Weapon. It was more compact than your average rifle, but had the ability to shoot powerful rounds for its size.

Meanwhile, Angel’s initial choice was a sniper rifle. After realizing that a sniper rifle would have no hope of fitting in a duffel bag that small, she settled for a battle rifle, testing it in her hands. Just like how volleyball required precision and careful strategy, a battle rifle held similar qualities, yet was also adaptable depending on the situation. She looked at it hesitantly, but performed a few maneuvers with it, such as aiming, tactical reloading, and melee . After a little while, she became more comfortable with her weapon, and her maneuvers quickened up to the pace any other of the thieves had.

Queen watched with dumbfounded surprise. “Where did you learn to move that efficiently with a weapon?”

Angel blushed, giving a small smile. “O-Oh, well this is my first time with a real gun, but Joker and I used to go play a lot of airsoft while back in high school. He taught me how to efficiently use a weapon.”

Phoenix huffed, but smiled. “Hitting things with the butt of your rifle isn’t a part of airsoft. You know, I would think that Joker was training you to be a thief from day one. Those movements looked like second nature.”

Angel’s blush deepened. “W-Well, it was something that we both found interesting. It was common ground, and a good way to bond. I was interested in how you all performed actions as Phantom Thieves, and Joker offered to show me via teaching...”

She wasn’t convincing anyone.

As they all readied themselves to move out, Mona hopped onto a crate, next to one of the duffel bags. “Did you bring anything for me, Skull?”

“Dude, you’re a cat. What kind of weapon would a cat wield?”

“...Touche.” Mona grumbled, before climbing into one of the duffels. “Well, I’ll at least hang out in here. It’ll be easier and quicker for you all to move around when I’m in a bag.

Joker nodded as he swung the strap of the bag Mona was in around his shoulder, and faced the rest of the group. “Alright. I’ll take point since I can use my Third Eye to keep an eye out for any trouble. We’ll also need somebody in the back to cover our backs. 5 of us will need to support the escapees, and the rest can float amongst the group and cover as needed. Any questions?”

He was met with silence.

“Very well. Now, let’s get out of this hellhole.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mostly just the continuation of the heist, as well as reactions (or a lack of) to Noir's antics. However, it's not unsurprising that they push it to the backburner. The thieves would rather get out of their pickle first before they go discussing it.
> 
> On a more uplifting note, I'm actually thinking about expanding this universe! Towards the end of the chapter, it's kinda revealed that Ren did train Shiho some in the ways of a thief. There's a lot of other things they got up to in their time together for a year, so I had the idea of writing a new fic that follows Ren's third year at his hometown. It would contain when he got there, when he runs into Shiho for the first time, and their relationship as the year progressed. I plan to elaborate on their relationship more as this fic progresses, so you wouldn't need to read another fic to keep up. It'll just be some sweet sweet Ren/Shiho content! (With a bit of Ren/Makoto dabbled in too)
> 
> That being said, it wouldn't have a set uploading schedule, since it would be a side project. I would just update it whenever I decide to write for it. Either way though, I'm interested to see what people would think of it. Again, it wouldn't hinder the current posting schedule for this fic, so just lemme know!


	19. How (not) to Tame a Murder Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty exhausted today so apologies in advance if there's grammatical errors in the text, I didn't go through the chapter with my usual intensity in my last chance look over before I post it. If there's something that doesn't look right or sounds kinda off, lemme know and I'll fix it!

The Phantom Thieves had Angel completely mesmerized.

Given the task of supporting one of the victims, Angel’s primary focus was keeping her physically upright and moving. Which meant that her mental capacity could be elsewhere, so long as the front and rear guards kept vigilant watch.

Joker and Skull led the front, while Fox picked up the rear. Phoenix, Angel, Noir, Queen, and Panther each were helping one of the victims. Mona was poking out of Joker’s bag, eyes and ears perked and attentive.

They worked like nothing short of a well-oiled machine. Covering for each other, taking point at different times, silent hand signals that everyone except for the two newcomers understood. Not a single word was verbally spoken in the tense situation that was ongoing, but there were unspoken volumes going between the thieves. Even the typical loudmouth Skull was silent and alert, and for once, there wasn’t a constant meowing from Mona.

Angel had only heard stories of the thieves in action, mostly from Panther or Joker, but seeing it in person was an entirely different story. Their dynamic was complete, their technique was masterful. Here, even as six different people (plus a cat), they moved and acted as one. They were perfectly in sync.

When things came down to it, the group of young adults in their early 20s were professional, bonafied, talented thieves.

_But thieves normally don’t move with military-like precision, did they? I thought Ann said they bickered a lot. How did they even think of their strategies to begin with? And how were they so adept with guns? In fact, how did they even get these guns? Just what sort of accomplices were the Phantom Thieves associated with? How many more questions would I have if I continued to give any of this some serious thought?_

The volleyball player had many questions that she desired to be answered, but that would come later. As she clutched the battle rifle in one hand, the other supporting her designated victim, she couldn’t help but wonder if all of Joker’s training he put her through had been because he foresaw a moment like this. She originally hated his paranoia. But she understood now - if you were involved with Joker and his friends, you were going to run into trouble sooner or later.

Either way, Angel would hate to be on the receiving end of whoever pissed the Phantom Thieves off.

Fortunately, the escape was largely uneventful; the group didn’t run into any resistance as Skull backtracked their steps. Angel was relieved, but it seemed that the thieves were put on edge by such a development.

For the first time since they started their escape, Joker spoke up softly. “I don’t like this. You’d think Skull and Panther incapacitating two guards would raise the alarm.”

Angel took it as an invitation that speaking was ok. “But they’ve been waiting to ambush us, right? Maybe they’re just all waiting outside?”

“It’s a possibility. But is there a way of us knowing without checking?” Queen asked.

“What about Mona? We could crack the door and he could slip out to scout.” Phoenix said, looking at the cat.

Mona gave an exasperated meow in reply, but shook his way out of the bag. Joker cracked the door, and the cat darted out.

A minute or two passed, then the group heard light rapping on the door. Mona scampered in, sitting on his hind legs. He started meowing his report as everyone except for Angel listened intently.

After he finished, Joker translated for her. “He says it’s completely devoid of goons out there, even in storefronts between here and the limo. As long as we’re quick, any planned ambush won’t actually make it to us by the time we get there.”

“It’s still weird, though. You’d think a limo would draw attention…” Panther muttered as she adjusted her shoulder on her designated girl, who mumbled incoherently.

“Like Phoenix said earlier, it’s hiding in plain sight. And besides, I made sure it wouldn’t be given notice.” Noir said. Angel noticed that she sounded a little less flat than before, but still far from her usual cheerful self.

Mona meowed in what Angel assumed was him asking for clarification.

“Well, I also called in two more discreet black SUVs to wait for us at a nearby alley. Our enemy likely assumes we’d be using the more discrete vehicles, and their attention is focused there. The limo is so far from discreet, they probably didn’t give it any thought.”

“Such an impressive display of wits, Noir! I must capture the beauty of your mind in art form!” Fox, seemingly forgetting the entire situation, stretched out his hand with his assault rifle in it while pointing it past everyone in a sweeping motion.

Queen, the person closest to him, knocked on his wrist with the butt of her revolver, forcing him to drop the weapon more out of surprise than pain. “Good God, watch where you point that thing!”

“Ah, my apologies. I suppose I was so swept up in our thieving business that I lost composure. But surely this is not just me, correct? Aren’t we all experiencing the thrill of being thieves once more?” He exclaimed as he bent down to pick up his rifle.

The deafening silence and averted gazes spoke volumes to Angel.

Mona sighed and meowed for several seconds, and the thieves straightened up.

“Mona’s right. We can talk about how much we all love this when we’re out of here and safe.” Joker admitted, then turned towards the door. “Are we all ready? We’re surely going to attract attention due to the… half-exposed nature of our damsels in distress. We’re going to need to be quick.”

He was met with nods and determined expressions, so he thrust open the door. “Let’s move.”

\----------

Joker thought everything was going well.

That is, until his head exploded in pain and his vision suddenly went black.

He awoke with a start, feeling himself laying down on one of the sofas that lined the limo. Once his vision was focused and he was comprehensible of his surroundings fully, he realized his head was sitting in Queen’s lap, her own gaze on him intensely, and her eyes ridden with tears

At seeing him awake, she grabbed his head, and brought him up to meet his lips with hers in a passionate kiss. Joker was taken aback at first, but allowed himself to melt into the kiss after a second, grabbing Queen’s shirt with one hand.

A few seconds later, the couple parted lips, but Queen kept her tight grip on Joker, holding him close. “Thank Lavenza, you’re ok! We all thought that you... that you…” She choked back a sob instead of finishing her sentence.

The rest of his friends crowded around him as Joker groaned, getting up. “What… what happened? I remember making it to the limo, and then… I don’t remember anything else. Did we get away? Did anyone get hurt?” Then, he noticed Noir wasn’t with them. “Wait, where’s Noir?”

“Oh, we can drop the codenames. We got away.” Haru said as she slipped in from the limo’s sunroof to a sitting position, flicking a switch. The large sunroof she appeared from slowly shut. Once he got a good look at Haru, he realized her face was red and puffy. She was clutching her grenade launcher tightly as if it were a lifeline.

In fact, he noticed _everyone’s_ face looked as if they had been crying. Even Sae’s face was red.

The only ones who weren’t were the now clothed girls (Haru made sure her driver brought extra clothes for them to wear). They were huddled together and asleep near the front of the limo.

“Whew, that was a close one! We thought you...” Ann said shakily as she relaxed into her seat, wiping a tear. “I seriously thought our plan would’ve been all for nothing.”

Realizing fully that the mission was over, Ren allowed himself a deep sigh of relief. He tried to sit up, but Makoto instead held him tight, refusing him the room to move. Well, he wasn’t one to complain. There were few places he’d rather be than in Makoto’s arms.

“Ok, so I realize we seem to be out of harm’s way now. But can somebody please tell me what happened? And why is everyone crying?”

This time, Makoto loosened his grip on him, allowing the young man to sit up properly. She interlaced a hand with his, and squeezed tight. Ren got the impression that she wasn’t going to let go anytime soon, as if he would disappear if she did. 

It looked like she wanted to say something, but had trouble doing so.

“You… were shot. In the head.” Sae spoke up for Makoto, the older Niijima’s eyes cast downward.

Ren blinked.

“Uhh… Come again?”

Ryuji scratched the back of his head. “She ain’t lyin, dude. You seriously got shot in the head.”

Ren blinked again.

“You all… You’re not kidding, are you? I actually got shot in the head?”

“The bonehead is right. We all seriously thought you were killed.” Even Morgana’s fur under his eyes were wet and tear-stained. He was curled up to Ren, snuggled next to his leg.

Ren took his free hand and rubbed it all around his head. Not finding anything out of the ordinary, he frowned. “I don’t feel any sort of wound, and I’m not even in pain aside from a minor headache. Although now that I think about it, I do remember a very brief flash of pain... Was it a non-lethal round that knocked me out or something?

“It’s a real bullet. Or at least, it sure looks like one.” Shiho pointed towards the wet bar of the limo, to reveal a silver bullet in a shot glass. 

The athlete grabbed the glass and held it in front of Ren to inspect, but she moved it away when he attempted to pick up the bullet itself.

“Sae-san said not to touch it, since it’s evidence.”

Ren reluctantly complied, but he kept his eyes locked on the bullet as his mind raced. It wasn’t every day you’d get shot in the head, live to tell the tale, and stare down the very bullet that entered your head in the first place. Especially when there’s no healing magic to bring you from death’s door.

Honestly though, after everything he’s lived through, it was pretty damn believable.

Still though, that didn’t mean he didn’t have a million questions. He decided to start with the most obvious one.

“Ok, so it seems I was really shot in the head. So, my first question is this: How on earth am I alive?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the machination of his temporary demise.

“If I’ll be honest… we have no idea.” Makoto said, her voice shaky. “The bullet entered the side of your head and exited out the other, hit the side of the limo, and dropped to the ground. Haru scooped it up before we escaped. But the weird thing was that there were no entry or exit wounds. No bleeding. Not even the faintest hint of a bruise. Nothing.”

Her voice hitched as she continued. “But… it was as if you were still shot by a lethal weapon. You still collapsed, unconscious immediately. Your heart even stopped. We dragged you into the limo, and sped off. Haru finished off our last pursuers just before you woke up.”

Ren narrowed his eyes. “Finished off?”

“Whether they died or not won’t be my fault. I merely shot my grenades into their cars, and the rubber shrapnel would cause them to lose control. I never shot to kill.” Noir explained, still gripping her grenade launcher.

Ren breathed a sigh or relief. “Next question. What kind of bullet would make a clean cut through my head, not leave any sort of mark, and temporarily kill me? Was that bullet meant to kill me and I just survived somehow?”

Sae drummed her fingers on the windowsill. “You’re asking the same questions we were asking ourselves minutes ago. We understand just as much as you about the situation. One thing is for certain, though - that silver bullet is far from something ordinary.” 

She finally turned her gaze from the window, eyeing him. “Our next logical course of action is to get that bullet analyzed. What material it’s made out of, its sizes, any possible fingerprints, etcetera. I’m glad that Haru instinctively grabbed it - things would’ve been much harder had she not done so.”

Sae nodded at Haru, who returned the gesture.

“And how would we do that?” Ren asked, moving along the conversation.

Sae resumed her finger drumming. “We have three options. The first is to have Makoto analyze it at the police station. However, that in itself is risky, since we know we can’t trust them. It’s possible they will try to destroy the evidence, or perhaps do even worse. We could also try to find an independent party who would be willing to analyze it for us and keep the results on the down low. The problem with that though, is the equipment needed for proper analysis isn’t something most independent parties will have access to, and they would be aware of any secrets that we’d find out. They’d become a massive liability.”

“So, unless we want to jeopardize Makoto or one of my confidant connections - which I don’t want to do either of, we’re shit outta luck on those two fronts. What’s the third?”

“We sneak in somewhere with capable technology and databases, run the analysis ourselves, copy the data, destroy said data on their computers, and dispose of other evidence of us having been there in the first place. The problem, however, is that it’s highly improbable that we will be able to discern everything in one go. Determining what the bullet is made of will need to be done through certain equipment, while tracing the bullet back to the gun will require its own set. Effectively speaking, it would be two different heists.”

“Sounds like that’s our winner. We can’t allow only one person to take the fall if something happens, nor can I allow somebody outside the thieves to be at risk from knowing potentially sensitive information. We’ll do this together, as a team.”

“Damn right. Plus, if all of us are in on it together, there’s no way we’ll lose! We’re the effin Phantom Thieves!” Ryuji pumped his fist, grinning.

The enthusiasm seemed to rub off on the others. Even Haru smiled a little. The only exception was Yusuke, who was feverishly sketching something in his sketchbook.

“By the way, I wasn’t finished with my questions. What exactly happened? I really don’t remember much. I think…” He fell silent, trying to recall.

Haru shifted in her seat uncomfortably, her eyes on the floor. When she looked back up, the floof realized most of the eyes in the limo were trained on her.

Ren realized, so he looked to her. “Haru, what happened?”

“I… I lost my temper.”

She took a deep breath, looked out the window, then continued.

“You all know what I did earlier tonight. I just… I couldn't stop myself. All my inner stress, worries, anger, and all sorts of other feelings reached a boiling point. I was so angry at them, for keeping girls locked up like that. For taking away their lives like that. For violating them like that. For being forced to do something that some of us in this car have.. experienced. I just _had_ to do something.”

She stopped, and the limo fell into silence, but nobody dared to say anything. The only sounds were the pencil and paper from Yusuke’s sketchbook. Ren noticed Ann clutching Shiho’s hand.

“Yusuke-kun and I did not see anybody after the control room. So when we were escaping, and they finally caught on and started coming towards us, I just got so angry. Even after everyone else was getting in, I was screaming at the top of my lungs about how justice will come down on each and every one of them. There wasn’t even anybody in the alley; I was just so mad, I wanted to scream for the sake of it. The next thing I saw was a muzzle flash, and… I felt the sensation of being pushed out of the way.” 

Another stint of silence, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Ren-kun, you took the bullet for me. Because I lost control, and was too angry, and yelled and yelled even though everyone was telling me to get in the limo so we could get away and I’m so sor-”

Her words were getting faster and faster, but Ann cut her off with a tight hug. “Hey, hey, Haru, it’s all right. Ren is here. He’s not dead, is he? He’s alive and breathing!”

That seemed to have no effect on the heiress. “That doesn’t matter! What if next time that happens it’s a real bullet? Then, there would be a real death, with real consequences, and one of the only friends I’ve ever had would be dead because of _ME!”_

Unfortunately, nobody had a clear answer to give her right at that moment.

As a result, the atmosphere of the limo suddenly went very south. Haru rubbed her face in her hands, crying, while most others found whatever was out the windows to be far more interesting, and even Yusuke briefly looked up from his sketchpad to assess the situation.

Ren was uncomfortable with the ‘death induced’ silence, so he attempted to diffuse it in one of the only ways he knew how: poorly-timed humor.

“I mean, that _was_ a real bullet. I did die, ya know. But here I am!”

Haru glared daggers into Ren, and a tense moment passed, before she finally relented. The girl slumped into her seat, hands still covering her face.

“I almost got you killed, Ren, and all you can do about it is joke? I mean, I guess that’s you, but…” Her voice got soft, and she tucked her knees under her chin, curling into a ball.

Ren was about to retort with _“Technically you did kill me,”_ but he bit his tongue when he realized that would’ve been a death wish. Also, it would’ve been extremely unkind.

**While I applaud your witty banter, now is definitely the time to refrain from saying such things.**

_At least I can have some sort of satisfaction knowing you find it funny._

**Our terrible dark sense of humor aside, I believe you should speak with her soon regarding her actions she made tonight. They seem to be weighing heavily on her.**

_Agreed. Perhaps I’ll be able to ensure she won’t kill in the future._

**Let me warn you, Trickster. It is noble of you to stay your hand from bloodshed, but I highly doubt this journey you and your comrades are undertaking will be clean. I will not sugarcoat it - you must be prepared to take a life when it counts, especially when it is to protect those you love. To protect the justice you strive for.**

Ren didn’t answer Arsene.

Instead, much to Makoto’s initial protest for him not to leave her side, he got up and moved over to Haru. He sat down next to her so the girl was between him and Ann. As he put an arm around her in a form of comfort, he reached for an auxiliary cord protruding from the wall.

“Does anybody mind if I play some music?”

There weren’t any negative responses, so he played music that could double as some white noise. As much as he wanted more answers about the events that just transpired, he also wanted to make sure his comrades didn’t descend into insanity.

Not to mention, the potential for the team to completely crumble. No doubt Haru’s actions were going to be discussed by others later. She had broken one of the core rules of the Phantom Thieves, after all. He didn’t think it would be brought up tonight, but this certainly set problems for the future.

But in this moment, Ren only had one goal: to bring Haru out of the dark place her mind had delved into.

Leaning in close to Haru, he spoke just loud enough for her to hear.

“Haru, please don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”

She didn’t say anything, but also didn’t flinch away when he pulled her closer to him, their shoulders pressed together.

“I mean, how would you have known there was a sniper hidden somewhere? We thought we had them fooled.”

Still nothing.

_Well.. Time for a different approach… Forgive me everyone._

Ren bit his lip, took a deep breath, then then told Haru the truth. “You know… If I was you, and in your position… I also would’ve done it. All of it.”

That seemed to get her attention. Her hands fell to just her lower face, her eyes visible.

“Y-You would have?”

Ren didn’t like to entertain the idea that he probably would’ve committed murder, but he had to help Haru get out her current mindset at any cost. Even if he took the fall himself, he didn’t want to see a friend descend into madness. It was his fault for dragging everybody into this mess.

“Mhm. I also felt the same way back when we confronted shadow Shido. I was just so angry. That man ruined my life, put what I assumed would be a permanent stain on my record, and I wanted nothing more than to end his life, since he ended mine. I wasn’t thinking beyond Shido. All the months of us being thieves had led up to that moment. And that was when I truly felt alive, because I was going to have my revenge.”

“But… you didn’t kill Shido. Why?” Haru had fully removed her hands from her face, now staring at him intently.

“The answer is pretty simple, actually. Ann once told me that she believes there are fates worse than death. And at that point, I realized Shido rotting in a prison cell for the rest of his life would surely be worse than the release of death. So, I guess, you could say that in a way, I was much more ruthless.”

Haru scoffed, not convinced. “Taking human life is different than letting them rot in prison, Ren-kun.”

Ren didn’t disagree. He paused as he searched for his next words. While he was great at being a soundboard and giving encouragement, difficult topics like these weren’t his forte.

“I suppose it is. But at the same time, it’s unavoidable.”

“I could’ve just knocked them out, Ren-kun, and the end result would be the same.”

“But then, how would you know they wouldn’t turn around and continue doing horrible things to others? Maybe it was a good thing?”

Haru gave him a strange look.

_Aw, shit. Why can’t I just always be a soundboard?_

Her voice raised slightly but still not above the din of the music. “You’re endorsing it now? Just an hour ago you were furious!”

“I know I was, and frankly, I still am against killing. But... Sometimes, we have to do something necessary to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our justice. It’s a necessary evil.”

“And your opinion changed, just like that?”

Ren scratched the back of his head. “It’s not exactly like that. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought since you radioed in what had happened. Perhaps I’m just paranoid, but for example, what if they came to and ambushed us while we were waiting for Ryuji and Ann?”

“How do you know such a thing would even happen?” Haru narrowed her eyes.

“I… I guess we can’t know, for sure. But on the other hand, isn’t it better than the alternative? Isn’t it better than even one of us lying dead in the tunnels of that den?”

Haru didn’t answer.

Ren felt guilty, but he decided to press Haru a little harder. “Maybe it was a good thing. That’s three people who won’t be-"

“Shut _up.”_ Haru growled, and Ren visibly recoiled.

**Why did you think that was a good idea?**

_I have no idea what I’m doing, and by extension, that means you don’t either. Up yours._

“Sorry.” Haru quickly added after. “I know you are just curious, or trying to understand so you can help me. I do appreciate that, Ren-kun.” She relaxed a little, which in turn enabled Ren to recover from her outburst. “But, if I may be honest, I have no idea what came over me. I thought I had good control over my more… violent tendencies.”

Ren thought back to the times he’s seen Haru split training dummies clean in half with an axe.

“When was the last time you… exercised in the gym?”

“A couple of weeks ago.”

“How often do you normally do it?”

“Once or twice a week.”

So the axe ‘training’ was a form of stress relief, and she hadn’t had her fix in awhile.

“So, since you hadn’t partaken in your normal form of stress relief, it exploded tonight?”

“I suppose so. But, Ren-kun, this time was different. It was as if everything over the past 6 years had come flooding back to me. It was…”

This time, things finally clicked for Ren.

“Seeing those girls reminded you of Kamoshida and Sugimura?”

He thought about bringing up Kaneshiro, but thankfully she never had to deal with that sleazy fly. May as well let sleeping dogs lie.

Haru nodded meekly. “And then, everything came rushing back to me. It was horrible, I had a moment of pure despair, and then… I was just angry.”

She sighed, and rested her head on Ren’s shoulder. The frizzy-haired boy shot a quick glance at Makoto, who was watching their exchange. She gave him a small nod.

Ren took Haru’s hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “We all have those moments, Haru. Now that I know all the circumstances… I… I don’t blame you. I would have done the same thing. And hey, on the bright side, at least because of it we know our next move, right?”

Haru looked shocked at his lighthearted conclusion.

He continued. “But, while we might have to in the future, let’s be sure to do our best in refraining from doing anything fatal unless it’s necessary, ok?”

“...Ok, Ren-kun.”

She squeezed his hand back.

The music filled the limo for the rest of the drive, but not a single person was listening.

_I basically just reinforced the idea that murder is ok if pressed to do so. This isn’t gonna bite me in the ass later on..._

\----------

No matter how many times Makoto had visited Haru’s property over the years, she never got over just how big it was.

Haru’s driver had taken them back to her large estate, as it was the only place any of the thieves owned that wasn’t either in a busy part of town. It was also the only home big enough for everyone to fit into comfortably.

The floof had called ahead, letting the staff know that she planned to have guests over that night, and to vacate the estate to give them all some privacy. That was something Makoto didn’t even consider until she was told about it. She internally chided herself for being so careless to not think in advance. As the strategist of the Phantom Thieves, these were the types of things she was to have under control.

Once they arrived, Ryuji finally gave Ren Futaba’s phone. When asked why he had it, he mentioned it was needed for her gps app that tracked his phone. Then, the blonde told him that Futaba had asked to see him as her condition to give him the phone to track the thieves down. Then, as the majority of the thieves + Shiho moved off to put their rescued victims to bed, Ren pulled aside Makoto, Morgana, and Haru to discuss the newfound information.

Makoto wasn’t surprised when Ren said that he would leave instantly, but it did catch her off guard when he initially denied her insistence on joining him.

“Excuse me? Why not?”

“Futaba asked to see me only. Wouldn’t it be better if it was just me who went?”

Makoto shook her head. “Absolutely not. You temporarily _died_ just an hour ago; I’m not going to leave your side any time soon. I’ll be sure to give space for the two of you to talk. Plus, I know she sees me as a pseudo-sister. Maybe she would want to talk to me, too.”

Ren sighed, as he picked up Morgana and placed him on his shoulder. “Fair enough… But when I ask for complete privacy with Futaba, can I assume you’ll let us have it? You know how she is.”

“You bet! In fact, I propose you take her to the attic and talk to her there! We can hang out at the chief’s house in case we’re needed.” Morgana chimed in from his new perch on Ren’s shoulder.

A smile returned to the former politician’s face, and he patted Morgana on the head. “That sounds like quite a nice idea, actually. Perhaps I’ll make her some coffee and curry.”

“That sounds wonderful! I’m sure she’ll love it. But Ren-kun, why include me in this conversation? I’m going to be staying here, yes?” Haru asked.

“Well… We’re going to need transportation to get there. Do you mind if we borrow a car of yours?”

Makoto opened her eyes wide. “Ren! We can’t just ask-”

“Oh, of course! I’ll be right back!” Haru exclaimed as she quickly strode off towards her garage.

When she was out of sight, Makoto wheeled on her boyfriend. “Ren, we can’t just borrow a car like that!”

Ren shrugged. “It’ll be much quicker than if we trained home to get our car. We need to get to Yongen as soon as possible.”

Makoto pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. She knew that Ren wouldn’t give in, but she was going to have a talk with him later.

“Fine. Just, I hope she doesn’t go out of her way to give us her best car or anything… Any car would work.”

At that point, Haru bounced back into the room. She smiled, holding a set of keys up to Makoto. When the others took a look at what brand the keys were, the couple + cat gasped.

“We can’t take that!”

“Yes, you can! It’s ok!”

“Are you sure that’s ok? I mean, it’s a-”

“Yes, I insist! You can return it tomorrow, or even later on if you need it longer.”

Makoto looked down at the keys Haru was offering her. Of all things she could have given them, it just _had_ to be the keys to a _Bentley_.

Even if it was Haru, who could replace one without batting an eye, Makoto felt horrible about borrowing a car that expensive. And also scared out of her mind from fear of getting so much of a scratch on it.

“Don’t you have anything… less expensive?”

“Oh, umm… I think the Lamborghini might be less expensive, but wouldn’t that be too flashy?”

Makoto sighed. Even if this wasn’t her least expensive vehicle, she still didn’t want to be entrusted with it.

“Ah, we really don’t need it, Ren has a car and we could just train back to our place and-”

“Just take the damn keys, Mako-chan.”

Haru thrust the keys into Makoto’s chest.

Makoto took the keys wordlessly.

And just like that, Haru went back to all smiles. “Well then! Since it’s late, I suggest the rest of us all start to settle in for the night? Ren-kun, Mako-chan, Mona-chan, you three will keep us posted, yes?”

Makoto wondered what happened during that conversation in the limo that her mood had improved so much.

The fact that her boyfriend both sympathized with and even endorsed Haru’s murder spree would never reach her ears, however.

“Of course. Now, if you’re ready, Ren?” Makoto turned to him, offering her hand.

He took it, smiling. “Let’s go see our baby sister.”

\----------

“You know… didn’t you think that our escape was a bit too easy? I didn’t even have to pull out my knife.”

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.” Makoto agreed, her eyes on the road. 

Between them, Morgana sat up from his position on the center console. “I didn’t really think about it, but now that you two mention it, it does seem a little strange. Well, you being shot in the head and surviving aside.”

“I’m glad you both agree. Between all of our hijinks as thieves, I also find it ironic our stealthiest heist was pulled off in the real world. I was expecting things to go south during our escape, hence why I had Ryuji go with Code W.” Ren replied, unfazed by Morgana’s quip.

“He did use tranquilizer darts, though.” Morgana countered.

“Yes, but only once. And apparently the same guards weren’t even there when we came back out the same way!”

Makoto furrowed her brow, deep in thought.

Ren and Morgana didn’t notice. “That’s a good point… You’d think that door would be swarming with guards once they were discovered to be unconscious.”

“Maybe they decided to try to lull us into a false sense of security by leaving the door alone, and waiting at what they thought would be our escape point?”

“But why risk waiting there? Why not just keep your enemy where you know they are, cutting off more variables?”

“...Touche.” Morgana grumbled, setting his head down in his front paws. “But no matter how you look at it, something is wrong.”

“...What if they wanted us to escape?” Makoto suddenly spoke after being silent for so long, causing both man and cat to look at her.

“Why would they wanna do that?” Morgana asked, raising his head to look at the girl driving.

“This is all just pure speculation, mind you, but what if they wanted us to make it outside? They lull us into a false sense of security by making us believe we’re home free, and then somebody takes a shot in an attempt to assassinate one of us?”

Ren held a horrified expression on his face. “That… actually might be it. It lines up with everything so far. But at the same time, they were pretty aggressive in trying to get the storage room door in the spice shop open. Why would they be so aggressive if they knew that was coming?”

“My guess would be that they didn’t get the order to stand down for the assassin to take his place until later in the infiltration. Or, they’re so low in terms of rank that they’re simply not told these things, and are incompetent. But what’s even worse, is that…” Makoto’s voice trailed off, and Ren looked to her to see a frown on her face.

“The worst is…?”

The cop bit her lip hesitantly before continuing. “We have to assume that the assassin had been waiting for us. They most likely watched the entire process of us making our way down the alley, watched all of us getting in the car, and waited for the most opportune time for them to pull the trigger.”

“But, they didn’t pull the trigger until…” Ren started, but then gasped at the realization of what exactly was supposed to happen had he not stepped in at the last second.

Makoto nodded sadly. “Yes... I believe that was meant to be an assassination attempt on Haru.”

The car went silent for a few minutes.

Both of them jumped at the sound of a voice call coming in through the car’s bluetooth with Makoto’s phone.

“Hello?”

 _“You guys gotta turn on the radio. We’re back, baby!”_ Ryuji’s voice sounded through the speakers before hanging up, allowing them to tune into the news on Tokyo-FM.

_“I repeat. The police were given an anonymous tip that a nightclub called Paradise was doubling as an illegal sex trafficking den. When police arrived on the scene, they found a calling card from the Phantom Thieves that read, ‘This is just the first. We will uproot the injustices that plague this country. We will expose the corruptions that have manifested in our absence. We are the Phantom Thieves.’ My goodness, could this mean that the Phantom Thieves are making a comeback! Well they start stealing hearts again?”_

_“This is different though, isn’t it?”_ Another radio host chimed in. _“The Phantom Thieves would target individuals, but now they’re targeting illegal activities? If only Akechi-san were still around! He’d know what was-”_

Makoto shut off the radio with a scowl. “Of course the first thing they talk about is that asshole…”

A few seconds later, she looked over at him, cocking her head. “Wait, didn’t you say that you didn’t want to tip off the police? So why did you?”

“If the police were called, we would never have seen them again. I wanted to get the victims out of there to ensure their safety. After that, tipping off the police was mostly for publicity reasons to help announce our comeback.” He sighed, and rested a hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder. “Look, Makoto, I love you with all my heart and then some, but fuck the police - they can’t be trusted.”

“...They can’t.” Makoto agreed softly, taking a deep breath. This was her path now, and there was no turning back. She was now a double agent for the Thieves. 

They drove another minute in silence, the three of them practically afraid to be the first one to break it.

“...I was almost hoping you’d forget about the card.” Makoto said quietly.

“You did? But we all agreed on it unanimously, right?” Ren cast a glance at Makoto, his face wrought with worry.

She sighed. “I know, it’s just… Our lives have just gotten much more complicated, to put it simply. I’m at risk for losing my job, for one. Even if I made my choice, having somebody on the inside would be helpful.”

“But the police have zero grounds on an arrest! They only have concrete evidence on Ren, not on anybody else. Wouldn’t the only person under suspicion be Ren, even though they apparently know all of our identities?” Morgana asked, cocking his head to the side.

“That’s how it would normally be, yes. However, we’re dealing with corrupt officers. They may not make a direct move on us, but instead would pull some sort of trick like they did with luring us into targeting Kunikazu Okumura. I can’t imagine a kidnapping in broad daylight, for example, but we must be cautious from here on out.”

Ren put a hand to his chin. “If that’s the case, then they can’t fire you without some sort of legitimate reason. Making too bold a move would attract too much unwanted attention to them.” 

“Which means we need to do the same. Being excessively flashy will also bring us too much popularity again. Especially you. You’re going to need to keep your head down from here on out again when we’re in public.”

Ren internally groaned. Luckily his friends’ identities never went public, but he was widely known as the leader of the heroes who uncovered the Shido conspiracy. _And I was just settling into the comfort that people had forgotten about it enough to stop asking me for selfies and autographs, too..._

Before he could say his next thoughts, Makoto spoke up. “By the way, when did you even have the time to deliver the card? And to where? And when did you even write it? Ugh, I have so many questions…”

Ren and Morgana shared glances, smirking. “I’ll fill you in when everybody is with us - that way I won’t have to explain it twice.” The young man rested his head on a balled fist, looking out the window. “In the meantime though, let’s focus on the task ahead of us. That’s way more important than talking about a little calling card.”

Makoto smiled, and took a hand off the steering wheel to find Ren’s. They eventually found each other, and their hands interlocked.

“Yes. Let’s go get our sister back.”

\----------

_“...If only Akechi-san were still around! He’d know what was going on for sure!”_

A figure relaxed into an armchair as they listened to the breaking news broadcast in its entirety.

“Very well. If you want a game, then I will give you one…”

Next to them, a cell phone started ringing.

"Yes? What is it?... What do you mean, _you missed?_ … I see. I doubt it worked in that case, but we shall see as we carry our plans forward.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ren's a great listener, and he's not totally horrible at giving out advice. However, advice on what to do when your local floof goes on a murder spree isn't exactly something he's got common knowledge for. We'll just have to see how it all pans out! And who is the mystery person at the end? The answer might not be as clear as you think it is...
> 
> In other news, between today and the next time I post, I plan to post the pilot chapter to my newest fanfic, "Broken Souls"! It's set in the same universe as here, and it will essentially go into detail about Ren, Makoto, and Shiho's complicated relationship that bloomed in the past. It'll also deal with the aftermath of the jail time Ren went through. Solitary confinement was not kind to him, and he returns to his hometown as a shell of his former self. To his surprise, he finds out that Shiho Suzui, still dealing with her own demons, goes to the same school as him. Watch as Ren and Shiho tackle their inner demons together, attempting to heal their broken souls via help from each other, their friends, and new faces.
> 
> Since it's a fic centered around dealing with heavy PTSD, it's gonna have a ton of angst and hurt (duh). If you're sensitive to that stuff, I may advise you sit this one out. Otherwise, stay on the lookout over the next several days for the expansion to this universe!


	20. A Shadow of your Former Self

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so busy this week, I hardly wrote a single word. And that, everyone, is why I make sure I have a buffer of a few weeks-worth of content to post; so you can still enjoy your weekly entry!

She didn’t expect that her brother would roll up in front of her house in a _Bently_.

“Where the hell did you get that? Did you steal it?” She heard coffee dad ask from behind her.

_So my brother steals expensive cars, and they casually ask about it? What sort of family do I belong to?_

Thankfully, her fears were short-lived when Ren dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. “Of course not. ____ lent it to me so we could get here as soon as possible. Although that does give me the itch to take something like this from somebody who deserves it…”

The fears returned, just as quickly as they left. She sighed, averting her eyes to the car behind the duo.

Red-eyed brunette noticed, and lightly smacked Ren across the back of his head. “Careful with what you say; you’re putting ______ on edge.”

She growled lowly at hearing that name. Or, more accurately, the lack of it. The empty space that it filled in her head wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Red-eyes was perceptive - she noticed that too. “O-Oh, right, I forgot. No names.” Brunette looked at the ground, clearly a little nervous. “Um, so… We’re here. You wanted to talk to us?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t say that. I wanted Ren. I need to talk to him. Alone.”

Brunette looked up in slight shock. “Alone? B-But, you consider me your-”

“I know that!” She snapped back, perhaps too harshly when seeing brunette recoil. She mumbled an apology. “Sorry. I’m sure you’re somebody important to me, just as everybody else is in this room. Kitty included.”

Kitty grinned at the attention, the cat perched on Ren’s shoulder.

“ _However_. The only name I remember is Ren, which means he’s probably more special than any of the rest of you. So, I want to speak to him, and only him.”

She knew she was being blunt, but she didn’t expect the murmurs of agreement to resound around her.

Kitty hopped off Ren’s shoulder, stretching, as he looked up at her. “Well, why don’t you and Ren head to Leblanc? We’ll hang out here. Let us know if you need anything.”

Ren nodded. “Sounds like a good plan. I’ll make you some coffee and curry, too. That work for you?”

Within the span of a few seconds, she did two things she hadn’t done all week.

The first one was to give a genuine smile.

The second was stepping outside her home, the door to the only safety she knew in the past week closing behind her.

\----------

As the group stared at the closed door, Makoto let out a sad huff.

“I hope this works, because if it doesn’t…” She didn’t finish - not that she really needed to. The other two surely shared her thoughts. If Ren and Futaba spending time in Leblanc with curry didn’t work, then they didn’t know what would..

Morgana sighed as he hopped onto the couch, changing the subject to not let the thought hang in the air. “You know, as strange as it sounds, I feel like things were less difficult and complicated when we had access to the Metaverse.”

“No, I understand what you mean.” Makoto said while helping herself to a glass of water in the kitchen, which shared a space with the living room. She quickly downed the entire glass, thirsty after the night’s events. “At least when we were experiencing surreal things, we knew what they were, what they meant, and how to deal with it. The mundane unknown is scarier than the unnatural known.”

“Speak for yourself. Try not understanding any of this since day 1. And that doesn’t include the fact that after 6 years, I can only now finally understand the talking cat.” Sojiro grumbled as he went about the motions of making some coffee. “All I can do is just listen, offer probably awful advice when I can, and keep the cafe reserved for when you lot need it. Makoto, did you want coffee too?” He asked, eyeing her filling up the glass with water once more.

She shook her head. “No thank you. I didn’t drink very much water today, and I need to catch up to my normal daily intake. Not to mention I haven’t had anything to drink in hours - I’m parched.”

Sojiro narrowed his eyes at Makoto, but quickly moved his gaze back to his work before she could notice. Makoto wasn’t normally one to decline coffee. She only did so when she was very stressed...

“Are you telling me you spent an evening in a nightclub and didn’t get a single drink? Did Ren at least offer you anything?” Morgana asked from his position on the couch.

Makoto made her way to the couch, taking a seat next to the feline. She absent-mindedly scratched his head, taking a sip. “He did at one point while we were dancing, but I wasn’t thirsty at the time. But then again, I didn’t expect to get roped up into action that quickly…”

“Speaking of action… Oh, thanks chief!.” Morgana gave his thanks to Sojiro as a cup of milk was placed on the coffee table in front of him. “Should we fill Sojiro in with what happened tonight?”

Makoto glared at the cat.

“I don’t see a problem with it. Especially since Sojiro is already an accomplice.” He simply said.

Makoto narrowed her eyes. “But the more he knows, the more he’s at risk.”

“I can make this decision for myself, thank you very much.” Sojiro’s gruff voice silenced the two. “And I want to know. I can’t do much, but… This concerns what little family I have left in this world. And I’m talking about more than just Futaba.” He said with a smirk as he eyed the two, hand on his hip.

The young adult + cat fell silent at his remark. Sojiro sighed, bringing his hand up to his head. “Alright, that’s enough sap out of this old man. Don’t let it get to your heads.”

Taking a seat in his usual armchair that he favored, the cafe owner took a sip of coffee. “Now, start from the top. I want to hear it all.”

\----------

“Thank you.”

She took the cup of coffee in both hands, clutching onto it as if she would slip away if she let go.

“Mhm.” He hummed in reply as he leaned against the kitchen countertop, eyes on her.

They held a silence for several seconds, before she got uncomfortable. “What?”

To her surprise, Ren laughed softly. “I’ll admit, I have absolutely no idea what to do here. I’ve never dealt with somebody who has amnesia before, let alone somebody who’s so close to me.”

“You don’t know half of it. Try being the one with memory loss.”

“If we’re just considering memory loss, I had a form of that, once.”

She cocked her head to the side. Her initial guard had lowered a bit, curiosity peeking out from behind the shield she had erected over the past week. “You did?”

Ren nodded as he came around the counter, taking a seat at the bar. She noticed he left an empty seat between the two of them, which didn’t go unappreciated.

“Yup. Although it was much shorter-lived than your current stint is, and it wasn’t pure memory loss either. It was something closer to… memory fog?” He swirled a spoon in his coffee cup idly. “I had my memories, and I remember being able to recall them somewhat, but they were very hazy. The ones I could grasp I could barely remember, and the ones I couldn’t, I didn’t even know existed.”

She stared at her coffee, deep in thought. She didn’t have her memories right now, but that didn’t mean she was stupid. “I did a lot of research into amnesia this past week, and that doesn’t sound like any of the various forms to me. And given our pasts as thieves…” Her attention turned from the coffee cup to him instead. “Were you captured and drugged at some point?”

Now it was his turn to take an interest in the coffee in front of him. He seemed to suddenly be far away. “Dead on. It seems you haven’t lost your smarts.”

“Amnesia doesn’t take away your entire brain, moron. Just the part where I forget about all the people who love me, including myself.”

He smirked, looking fondly at his cup. “You haven’t lost your sarcasm, either.”

She didn’t answer, instead opting to take a sip of her own coffee. Which turned out to be absolutely delicious. Apparently Ren learned to make coffee from coffee dad, but she determined they were on equal footing.

She wondered if his curry was just as good.

She noticed Ren getting up, seemingly reading her mind. “Well, we can’t have coffee without curry. I’m gonna get it started.”

“Mkay.”

\----------

**She is alone, do it now…**

_No, I can’t do that._

**Then allow me to guide you...**

“So… Angel, huh?” Sae tapped her finger on Haru’s kitchen counter impatiently.

Shiho looked up from her phone to see Sae glaring at her, immediately making her feel uncomfortable. Her eyes instead roamed the kitchen, the open concept living room next to it, the hallway that all the others had gone through to put the girls they rescued to bed in hopes the drugs would wear off tomorrow. She was doing her best to look anywhere but the former prosecutor in front of her.

Sae was patient. Shiho could feel her gaze boring into her. The volleyball player had an idea what she was about to be led into, and it was evident she wasn’t happy about it.

“Y-Yes?” She finally asked hesitantly, still refusing to look the other woman in the eyes.

“Where did the codename come from?”

“O-Oh… R-Ren gave it to me back in high school.” She said quietly. All her confidence from her time in the nightclub had vanished. When it was just the two of them, she had nowhere to hide.

“Is that so?” Sae’s eyes narrowed. “Why did he call you that?"

"He wou-"

"Why were you and him even in a romantic involvement to begin with?"

"B-Bacause I-"

"Did Makoto even know what you two got up to?"

"Y-"

"Did she even approve? Are you even aware of what you did?"

"..."

Shiho didn’t think Sae realized it herself, but her voice had risen to a shout as she berated the unfortunate girl with questions. If Shiho was a turtle, she would have slunk back into her shell by now.

“I-I… W-Well… It was…”

The lawyer closed the distance between her and Shiho, grabbing her collar and shaking her. Consequences be damned. All she saw was red, and a desire to get at the person who thrust their life into her sister’s relationship. “Where’s all that confidence now, hmm? Perhaps you realize the severity of your actions? You-”

“KNOCK IT OFF!”

Even Sae jumped at the shriek that interrupted her. Although she was surprised to see that it wasn’t Shiho who snapped, but instead Ann, who was standing in the entrance to the hallway. Everyone else hung back behind her, not daring enough to diffuse the situation.

“You leave Shiho alone!” Ann growled, moving up to her friend quickly before pushing Sae away forcefully, causing her to stumble back. Ann enveloped Shiho into a tight hug, who unconsciously leaned into it, shivering violently.

This only pissed off Ann more. “Look at her! Look what you’ve done to her! You’re smart, I’m sure you put together the pieces by now. You do realize who she is, right?”

Sae was taken aback, not expecting such a fierce attack from the blonde. “I determined she had a traumatic event happen in the past, but-”

“SHIHO WAS THE ONE WHO TRIED TO KILL HERSELF AFTER KAMOSHIDA RAPED HER!”

Shiho winced. Sae’s mouth hung open.

“You… You… You _bitch!”_ Ann practically hissed. “Even when you knew she had a traumatic past, you tried to physically intimidate her? Do you have a moral compass? All because of what, she needed somebody to help her recover from a traumatic past that you’re currently digging up because your sister willingly accepted her so she could feel whole again? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I can ex-”

“No, screw that, you don’t get to talk! You may have had your own methods when you were a prosecutor, but you don’t get to use them on friends! Especially when you do something that you’re fully aware of what effect you’d have on her if you did it! And it’s all for nothing, since Makoto was more than happy to allow it! But she didn’t tell you, because she thought something like this would happen. I was skeptical that you’d do something like this, but you’ve gone and proved me wrong.”

Ann gritted her teeth, breathing heavily, eyes locked on Sae’s. Shiho could feel Ann herself shaking, but it was one filled with rage, countering her fearful shivers. Moving her face out of Ann’s chest, she looked over the girl’s shoulder to see the rest of the Phantom Thieves standing in the hallway, all clearly uncomfortable at witnessing what just happened.

“I… I’m sorry.” Sae said quietly, to test the waters. When Ann didn’t interrupt her, she continued. “I was so angry at somebody defiling a relationship that my little sister has, I wasn’t thinking straight. And after I saw the way Ren and Suzui-san acted tonight, I… I was scared it would happen again. And I did something I shouldn’t. I’m not even sure what came over me. Actually, there was a really weird sens-”

“Shut up, I don’t want another word or excuse out of you right now.” Ann cut her off again, then looked at Shiho “What did you and Ren do tonight?”

“H-Held hands… A-And I guess talked about h-how we k-kept each other from being depressed...” Shiho whispered, avoiding the other’s eyes.

“That’s _it?”_ Ann reared her head back on Sae, and now that Shiho could see Ann’s blue eyes, she noticed just how full of fire they were. “I’m going to do my best to stop myself from losing it again, because I think you’re aware of what you’ve done. But you should have considered all the facts, and talked with all parties involved before _getting physical with an abuse victim.”_

“Please, listen, I w-”

 _“Stop. Giving. Excuses.”_ Ann spat, her patience getting very thin at Sae’s insistent pleas.

“WIll you just let me talk, Godamnit?! Does anybody else have a voice in their head telling them to do horrible things and then they share their anger with you, coercing you into doing something like what I just did?!” Sae all but shouted in response.

Shiho noted she suddenly sounded strangely exhausted, as if she hadn’t gotten a good night's sleep in several nights.

The room went deadly quiet.

“I-If I may interrupt…” Haru said softly, interjecting herself into the explosive conversation, “Does this voice sound like you, but kind of distorted?”

Ann gasped, the penny dropping for her. “You don’t mean…”

“Holy shit, why didn’t you lead with that?!” Ryuji almost looked relieved, in a twisted sense. “That explains a lot!”

“I tried to, but I was interrupted. To answer your question, yes… It sounds like it’s my own voice. But it’s very echo-y, and fills me with an inadvertent, unavoidable anger. It talks about how I have to win at all costs, and use any method to get what I want. It hasn’t shown up until a day or so after you all awoke to your personas again. Wait, how does it explain a lot?”

Ann, Haru, Yusuke, and Ryuji shared uneasy glances.

“As much as I hate to say it… Ryuji’s right.” Ann said as she stroked Shiho’s hair. “Sae, you said you were basically inadvertently coerced into being angrier than you should’ve been, effectively past your usual moral compass?”

“Well, I didn’t use those exact words myself, but I suppose that fits the description.”

More uneasy glances were shared.

“Well, at the very least, we know what’s going on now. Not that I really like it…” Haru murmured.

Sae felt a lump rise in her throat, and she could barely say the words that formed in it. “What is inside my head…?”

“That, Sae-san… Is your shadow. Leviathan.”

\----------

“You summoned _Satan?_ To save _Christmas?_ Isn’t that counter-intuitive?”

Ren grinned. “In hindsight, it sure is. But I had him under my control. Plus, when your opponent’s a self-proclaimed divine being, who better to punish him with than a demon lord?”

“Can I just say I love the symbolism in all of this?”

She hadn’t felt this comfortable all week.

Sitting across from her was her brother. The person who seemed to care about her and love her immensely, who would drop everything to protect her, and a bunch of other mushy shit she didn’t feel like getting into the intricacies of. But she made him feel _comfortable._ She made him feel like herself. Or, whatever herself was. Perhaps human was a better word for it.

So, she decided to voice her gratitude… just after another bite of the amazing curry he had prepared. “You know, I have to thank you. I haven’t felt this… normal, I guess, since I woke up in that doctor’s office. Talking to you just feels natural, you know?”

“I do know.” He said smugly, peering over his second cup of coffee. "You may not remember it, but we talk multiple hours a day normally."

She scoffed at him. “You seem like you’re a pain to deal with sometimes.”

His smug turned into a short laugh. “You have no idea. Well, normally you do, but… you know.”

Both of them took a sip of coffee to let the thought dissipate.

“You know…” She began, setting her cup down gingerly as she picked at the empty plate of curry in front of her with a fork. “I appreciate you recounting your entire story. Even the… bad bits. And especially when you’re telling this all to somebody who’s lived it. Your patience level must be 100.”

Ren shrugged. “I’ve told this story a good few times. I’ve kinda got a rhythm of how it all goes. And it’s humbling. Reminds me where I’ve come from, and who I can trust.”

“And you trust me?”

“With my life.” His answer was immediate.

“...Even right now, when I don’t have my memories?”

“Even right now.”

“But…” She paused, clenching her hands. “Why? What good am I when I don’t have memories?”

“...Because I love you? Because we all love you? Because you’re you, memories or not? Look, I’m not sure where this sudden thought came from, but no matter what, you need to remember that I love you. You’re the sister I didn’t know I always wanted, and whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me till the end.”

She didn’t respond, instead opting to study Ren’s face. He held it firmly, almost as if challenging her to speak. So, she complied.

“I… Well, you must know I’m a logical person. And, this past week, I’ve been trying to determine why people seem to like me so much. I know I’m smart and can do hacking stuff, but outside of that, I seem to be a total noob. I'm also horrible in social interactions. Not to mention all the depression and anxiety that comes with me. So, when you take away all the stuff that makes me useful, why would you still trust me so much?”

“Do I need to even answer that question myself?”

“Because you love me?”

“Correct.”

She blew air out of her nose. “I’ve been pushing away people lately, and haven’t been giving anybody the chance to really talk to me. You’re the first person I’ve held a real, serious conversation with. I thought people would be burdened because of me not remembering anything.”

Ren sighed as he got up, taking the curry plates in hand to put them in the sink. “As far as love goes, even if somebody is a burden, it doesn’t matter. You’ll endure anything for somebody you love. And from an outside point of view, I don’t consider amnesia as something I or the rest of us have to endure. It’s something only you’re going through, and the best we can do is be there for you.”

“Be there for me, huh… Maybe…”

Ren looked over from the sink. “Did you say something?”

“Hey, come over here. You can do the dishes later.”

Ren furrowed his brow in slight confusion but followed her bidding. He turned off the water, wiped his hands down, then sat across from her. “What’s up?”

“So… You keep talking about all this love, and stuff. I wanna get some love.”

“Uhhh… Can you clarify?”

“Our sibling love! Show me what it’s all about! From here on, I’m giving only you permission to make physical contact with me again. Maybe it’ll help me with reco-”

She was cut off from the force of Ren practically tackling her into the back of the booth with a hug. She didn’t even realize when he had moved in the first place, he was so quick.

“I’m sorry…”

Wait, what? That wasn’t what she expected him to say.

“Uhh, care to fill me in on why you’re sorry?”

He pulled the two of them upright, but kept his hold on her. “I… I didn’t protect you enough. And you’re suffering because of it. I failed-”

She didn’t hear much, but she heard enough. “Alright, I’m gonna stop you right there. Given everything I’ve been told so far, it doesn’t sound like you failed. If you had failed, I’d be in some dungeon somewhere getting smacked around because I can’t answer questions I’m supposed to know.”

Unknown to her, Ren opted to not tell the girl that her fate would have not only involved questioning, but something far worse.

“You sound like everyone else.” He muttered as he pulled back to look at her.

“Then that means I’m probably right. So, stop blaming yourself, ok? Sheesh, if that’s the kind of love you give out then Imma have to ask you to hold up. I don't want some sap apologizing to me every time he recalls the past events from his quest log.”

Her quip caused Ren to snort in laughter, which was her objective. “Sorry, I’m not gonna blame myself for everything. I just… It sucks seeing people you care about suffer, and it’s even worse when you were there for the incident. You’ll always wonder if you did enough. If you could’ve done more.”

She put a hand to her chin. “I guess that makes sense. Especially when you had the power to do so much back when we were the Phantom Thieves, right?”

“Yup, that’s basically it. It sucks being powerless now.”

To his surprise, she found herself leaning on his shoulder. “Again, stop beating yourself up about shit that’s out of your control. Trust me. This is coming from someone who’s had to deal with this the past entire week. You can’t possibly compare to me!”

She heard him chuckle.”Alright, alright, I relent. And in all honesty, it makes me feel much better to see you acting like yourself again.”

“Now if only all my memories would return…”

They fell into a comfortable silence. She was enjoying having physical contact with somebody, while she could tell Ren was just happy to be able to see her.

“Hey, want to hear the story about how I attempted to use a grenade launcher and almost killed half of our team by accident?”

She smiled. “I’m all ears.”

\----------

“Haru did _what?”_ Sojiro couldn’t hide his shock. “Do you realize how much you all have messed up?”

“Sheesh, somebody didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“Did you forget I can understand you, you cat?!”

Morgana squeaked.

Meanwhile, Makoto was holding her hands to her temples. “I know the situation looks bad, yes. But, I don’t think we’ll need to worry about it. Our enemy wants to fight a shadow war. They won’t expose anything that would garner unwanted attention.And besides… to hell what the public thinks. The only thing that matters now is justice.”

Sojiro scratched the back of his head. “I know that you’re very gung-ho on making things right, but shouldn’t you also worry about what’ll happen after everything is said and done?”

The police officer answered with a fiery determination. “The consequences of our goals can be considered after everything is said and done. With all due respect Boss, I didn’t risk my life dozens of times, literally disappear from existence, fight a god, and witness the rebirth of the world just to have it end up in the same state we found it.”

“Alright, alright. No need to get poetic or anything.” Sojiro waved his hand dismissively. “I’ll never understand what and why you guys do what you guys do. I always told Ren to not stick his nose where it doesn’t belong, but him doing so ended with you all saving the world.”

“Perhaps you won’t, but I appreciate your worry. It’s nice to have others care about you. You’ve done a lot for us all. Especially Ren.”

“Speaking of that actually, you know how his birthday is coming up in a couple of months?”

Morgana looked up from his mug of milk, a white moustache on his lips. “Of course we do! We live with him, after all! Why, do you have some grandiose present for him since you’re apparently thinking so far in advance?”

Sojiro let out a low chuckle, and his gaze held a strong sense of mischief. “Something like that. Give me a sec, I’ll be right back.”

“Uh oh, may Lavenza help us all…” Makoto groaned under her breath as the old man made his way out the room and upstairs. Who knows what the old man is scheming now?

“Lady Lavenza…”

“Huh? What about her, Morgana?”

“Oh, nothing much. Just recalling how she was bummed that she missed Ren’s birthday once she found out when it was. Although she certainly made up for it by giving him quite the going away gift.”

“Oh yes, it was the key to his cell in the Velvet Room, right? I suppose that’s quite the symbolic gift.” She looked at the ground, before whispering so the cat couldn’t hear, “Much more symbolic than a buchi-kun calculator…”

Morgana didn’t hear, and it didn’t look like he was paying heed to her expressions either. “It’s more than symbolic! She said that as long as he had it, she would be watching over him, even though he had already won the game.”

Makoto blinked. “She said what?”

“He’d won the game?”

“No, before that.”

“She’d watch over him?”

The brunette struggled not to facepalm herself. “So, let me get this straight. She’s essentially keeping tabs on Ren, which means she still exists?”

“Well, yeah. I’m a resident of the Velvet Room, and I’m still here. Of course we will remain to… exist…” His voice trailed off, seeming to understand where she was going.

“And if she still exists, and is watching over Ren…” Makoto started...

… And Morgana finished. “...Then she’s totally aware of our situation! She has to be!”

“Do you think she could help us somehow? Perhaps give us the ability to utilize our personas again?”

Morgana sat on his hind legs, drumming his tail on the couch. “Hard to say for sure, given the context of this new, reborn world. If only we had a way to get in contact with her…”

Makoto looked at him as if he grew a second head.

“What?”

“Uhh… The key, Morgana?”

_How did they make it through two palaces without me?_

“OH! They key! You’re totally right, maybe we can use it to talk to Lady Lavenza somehow!”

“It’s a long shot maybe, but having Lavenza here would certainly be helpful. We should leave to get the key at once.” Makoto said as she stood, gathering her purse and keys to the Bentley. She picked up Morgana, placing him on her shoulder as the cat danced in excitement.

“Awww yes! I get to ride shotgun in a fancy car! This is what Phantom Thievery is all about!”

“What is Phantom Thievery all about?” Came a gruff voice as the duo was making their way to the door to see Sojiro standing there with a manilla folder in his hand.”

“What’s in the folder, chief?”

“And where do you two think you’re going?” He shot back just as cooly. “You’re leaving somewhere in a hurry when you’re supposed to be here on standby?”

The cat and girl exchanged glances. “This is important. We think we might have something to give us an advantage… and also our powers back. It’s at the apartment, and we need to go get it as soon as possible.” Makoto admitted, eyeing the door behind the man.

His eyes widened. “Getting your powers back, eh? That sounds important, so I’ll leave you kiddos to it. But just be sure to text Ren and let him know what’s going on, yeah? He’ll freak if he finds out you went somewhere without telling him it’s for a good reason first.”

“Don’t worry, we will! And since we’re going by car, we shouldn’t be too long, either. Especially since it’s so late. We’ll be back in half an hour at most!” Makoto called out as she went through the door with a wave.

As the two of them slid into the car, Sojiro returned the friendly wave. However, his sigh told a different story.

“Kidnappings? Amnesia? _Killing?_ Sex trafficking? What kind of hellish ordeals do you kids have to endure just to keep this ungrateful world from imploding…?”

As he shut the door behind him, he looked down at the manilla folder in his hands, where a title read in big letters ‘ADOPTION FORMS’.

“You may be off saving people yet again, but the least I can do is offer you a real home and official family to come back to, Ren.”

\----------

“Let me get this straight. I have my darker subconscious feeding me anger and negative thoughts because it’s the untamed desires of my heart that evidently weren’t squashed when you all ‘changed’ it?”

“That would be correct.” Yusuke confirmed for Sae.

“Didn’t you all get rid of shadow me years ago?” Sae looked between her fellow thieves, clearly confused.

Ann shook her head. “Nope. We had to keep the shadow you intact, so your palace wouldn’t collapse on us, and we could go through with our master plan to trick Akechi and keep Ren alive.”

“And you all thought it would be ok to leave an angry-at-the-world, power hungry me inside my heart? When there’s a possibility of me doing something so horrible as I just did to Suzui-san?”

“Again, if we got rid of Leviathan, Ren would be dead.”

“Why didn’t you go back and get rid of it after that?”

Ann tapped her foot, starting to get impatient. “We were busy dealing with Shido, and then the whole thing with… uhh... you know who happened.“ She stole a quick glance at Shiho as she faltered. Her friend was aware of the Metaverse, but she didn’t know about Yaldabaoth, nor the rebirth of the world.

Unknown to all of them, Ren had already told Shiho everything. She knew it all - from Satanael, to Akechi, to Morgana’s birth… Shiho needed to talk to Ren about running his mouth with things she shouldn’t know.

Sae chewed her lip. “Well, if the Metaverse might exist again (“It does?,” Ann heard a quiet Shiho mutter), can we go back and confront it now?”

“I suppose it is possible. If the Metaverse exists, then perhaps your palace may as well.” Yusuke offered, a hand on his chin. “Although given the time difference, surely it will have changed? Maybe it is not a casino anymore, perhaps?”

Ann groaned, holding a hand to her head. “The short version is: we don’t know.”

“I see…” Sae breathed a deep sigh, before continuing. “Perhaps you can answer this question, at least. Why is my shadow able to converse with me, let alone directly influence my emotions, and indirectly my actions?”

The 4 original thieves looked at each other, each waiting for somebody to speak up. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Haru scratched her cheek with a finger, smiling sheepishly. “Right, all of our resident Metaverse experts aren’t here as of right now.”

“Who are they?” Sae asked.

“That would be Mona-chan, and Ren-kun and Mako-chan to a slightly lesser degree. There’s also Lavenza, but we have no way of contacting her anymore. But, I can do my best to answer your question.” The floof cleared her throat. “Normally, shadows don’t meddle in the real world affairs. And to my understanding, they don’t even have means to interact with their real world counterparts. This is something entirely new to us.”

“Great.” The attorney groaned. “And what can be done about it?”

Her answer was given by more silence among the crowd.

“I take that since it’s new territory, you don’t know.”

This time, her answer was in the form of nodding heads.

**THE ONLY THING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IS HEED MY WORDS, AND YOU WILL ACHIEVE ALL THAT YOU DESIRE.**

“Shut up…” Her voice came out as a whisper, barely anything to hold a candle to the booming feminine voice in her head.

Ann frowned. “She’s talking to you, isn’t she?”

“Yes. She’s saying that all I need to do is listen to her and I will achieve all that I desire.”

“Yeesh. Talk about creepy shit.” Ryuji, who had been silent for a long while, finally contributed to the discussion. “But it sounds like we need to talk to Morgana. He’s the best lead we got when it comes to this stuff. Although none of us have had creepy, angry voices in our head…”

“How comforting.”

**INSOLENCE! YOU SHOULD NOT BE SPOKEN TO WITH SUCH INSULTING WORDS! HE MUST SHOW HIS RESPECT!**

Sae winced. “I’ll say though, she hasn’t been nearly this loud before tonight. I’m not entirely sure what set it off, but it’s as if she’s been entirely unleashed.”

Haru frowned. “We need to hold another meeting with everyone as soon as possible. I’m going to get in touch with Ren-kun and Mako-chan about this, and see if they don’t mind coming back here. And I’ll check in on how Futaba-chan is doing, as well.”

As the heiress pulled out her phone, Ann looked down to Shiho. She couldn’t see her face, since it was still buried in her upper chest, but the blonde leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

“Are you doing ok, Shiho?”

The girl in question slowly pulled away from her metaphorical rock, and nodded her head. “More or less. It helps knowing Sae-san… didn’t have full control over herself. At least, that’s what it sounds like from my point of view.”

Sae opened her mouth to say something, but a glare from Ann shut her up quickly. Her blue eyes told the lawyer _‘I think it’s best if you just don’t speak right now.’_

She didn’t disagree.

Instead, she nodded her head slowly in understanding, and left the room to go to her own bedroom for the night.

Once Sae had left the room, Haru quickly called over all the thieves to huddle around her. It took several seconds to pry Ann off of Shiho, but eventually the 4 thieves present found themselves in the corner of the living room.

“So, this is some serious shit.” Ryuji stated the obvious to start.

“Agreed. And Sae being able to have her shadow influence her actions is a danger to us, isn’t it? What if she, like, decides to shoot us in the back with a tranq dart or something? Ann crossed her arms, looking at the ground. “I think it would be a risk to take her on any missions until we deal with that first.”

“I am in agreement with this, but we should check in with the others first. We can’t jump to ideas and conclusions without bringing it to everyone’s attention first.” Haru said in an authoritative tone. “Mona-chan might be able to offer some advice on how to calm her shadow. Do you think if she could convince it to join her peacefully, Sae-san would have a persona?”

“Intriguing... That would follow how Futaba was able to acquire her persona. She received her powers by bonding with her Shadow.” Yusuke agreed with the floof. “And if the Metaverse does indeed exist, Sae having a persona would enable her to fight effectively.”

Haru nodded. “Either way, we need to have a discussion with everyone together. And since it’s very late,” A quick glance at the wall clock told her it was almost 1 in the morning, “Should we get some sleep? I’ll let Ren-kun know we’re calling it a night, and that we’ll meet up with him in the morning. Does that work with everyone?”

Ryuji grinned. “Ya know, Haru, when Ren and Makoto aren’t around, you make for a pretty good leader, takin charge and shit like that.”

Haru actually rolled her eyes, something that she hardly ever did. “It’s just all my Okumura Foods experience. I imagine I would fall apart in combat - I would probably be having too much fun brutalizing our enemies to give out commands!” She giggled devilishly, which caused the other three to exchange looks.

“Just everyday Haru…” Ryuji muttered under his breath.

“What was that, Ryuji-kun?” Her tone was low, slow, and deathly.

“U-Uh! I said that I was going to bed! C-C’mon, Ann, ready to hit the sack for the night?”

“Y-Yeah! I think we should all turn in for the night. It’s been hectic. Shiho, are you ready for bed?”

Shiho looked up from her phone, sighing. “Oh, yeah, I guess…”

“Everything ok?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t heard back from my friend that I got separated from. And her phone seems to be off, but she almost always has it on…”

Haru and Yusuke shared an uneasy look, before she decided to speak for the two of them. “Um, does your friend have brown hair, dark eyes, is relatively tall, and built like an athlete?”

Shiho fell silent, but the look on her face made her unspoken answer obvious.

\----------

_Why are you here now? After all this time? Why can’t you just leave me alone?_

**I AM THOU.** Leviathan’s voice inside Sae’s head was dripping with mockery. Sae was aware those words were important for when Ren and co would awaken to their personas, but she had a feeling her inner self was using it to mock her instead.

**I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE, MINGLING MY THOUGHTS WITH YOURS. WE ARE ONE AND THE SAME.**

_No, we’re different. I used to be like you. I’m nothing of the sort anymore._

Leviathan hissed as she laughed. **IF YOU WERE DIFFERENT, I WOULD NOT BE HERE. I AM YOUR INNER DESIRES, YOUR INNER SELF. YOU DESIRE VICTORY AND JUSTICE. SO DO I.**

Sae wasn’t sure what Leviathan meant by justice, considering she used to be obsessed with only victory, but she realized that there was more than one way to skin a cat that isn't Morgana. _I don’t know what sort of methods you wish to use to enact justice, but I will allow myself to sink to your level._

**OH, BUT YOU ALREADY HAVE. THOU ART I, AFTER ALL.**

After that, Sae could feel Leviathan sink into the depths of her mind. She was left alone, for now.

In an annoyed huff, she grabbed one of the pillows on her bed and covered her face before screaming into it. She couldn’t let this monster win over her. She wouldn’t. She was going to pull out any trick in the book to remain victorious over her shadow.

But that train of thought didn’t do her any good. Victory at any cost? She sounded just like her shadow! She sounded like her old self…

But she needed to ensure victory over an evil entity, right? Even if she had to take drastic measures?

But then… That wouldn’t make her any better than before. When she called Makoto useless. When she - her shadow - almost murdered the Phantom Thieves inside her own heart. She couldn’t go back to how she was. She had to beat her inner demons. Literally.

But could she beat her inner demon as a lawbreaker, when she had abided by the law for so long? Wouldn’t that be counterintuitive? Was she breaking laws only because Leviathan was egging her on, initially unbeknownst to her?

But, is this even the right path in the first place? Should she even be doing all of these illegal actions? She was breaking the law! But the same law is being governed by corrupt officials… Was it ok to go against the law when the law itself is corrupt? _What am I even doing anymore?_

Sae screamed into her pillow again. And again. And again. And again.

She screamed until she couldn’t scream anymore. Her voice was hoarse as tears streamed down her cheeks, staining the pillowcase.

She could hear Leviathan cackling with glee in the depths of her mind.

It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens! A lot of stuff happened here so I'm not going to spend forever discussing it. But as always, comments on your thoughts are welcome!
> 
> Speaking of plot, I was writing earlier and I realized just how many damn moving parts this story has. And that doesn't even include the stuff I have finished but haven't released yet. I have extra word docs of big plot points and things because I can't keep track of all of them in my head. But in all honesty, I really enjoy it. It makes me feel like the world is actually alive, and while sometimes it's a pain in the ass, it's really rewarding to see the chapters go out.
> 
> In other news, my companion fic to this, Broken Souls, has had its pilot chapter released! You'll find it as the second entry in the "After the Metaverse" series this fic is now a part of. The first chapter's reception far exceeded my expectations - seems y'all love it! I plan to follow through with that one too, and if you're interested in what the hell is going on between Shiho, Ren, and Makoto, I recommend you check it out!


	21. Salvation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all are ready for some world buildin'. There's a lot of new info this chapter!

The key felt warm in Makoto’s hands.

“This is…” The girl breathed out as Morgana looked on from the bed. “I’ve touched it and seen Ren touch it before, but it’s never been warm.

“Maybe the key is reacting in some way? I bet there’s something we can do to open it!”

Morgana was eager, but Makoto shook her head. “No. If we actually have the ability to do something, it should be up to Ren. This was a gift to him.”

“That’s irrelevant right now! Don’t you think we’re not exactly in a situation that allows these types of pleasantries?”

Makoto sighed as she twisted the key in her hand. “Fine… But really, I have no idea how I would use it. If it can even be used, per say.” She looked at the literal embodiment of human hope, handing the key to him. “As a resident of the Velvet Room, you have a better chance of activating it as opposed to me.”

Morgana grabbed the key with the end of his tail, looping it in and around the diamond shape on the end of the key. Holding it tight, he waved it around aimlessly. “Huh, it does feel warm…” He brought it closer to his face to study it. “I’ll admit, I was hoping that something would happen if I were to touch it. I guess that doesn’t make any sense though. I’ve touched the key before. Even held it.”

The officer straightened back up as she walked over to the bedroom light switch, turning it off. “Well, we won’t be able to get anywhere by standing around. Ready to head back to Leblanc?”

\----------

She jumped when she heard knocking on Leblanc’s door.

Whipping around, she saw Red-eyes and Kitty standing there, waiting to be left in.

She frowned. “I thought I told them to stay away for tonight.”

She watched as Ren got up, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, but they said they had something very important to give me.”

“Hmph. So that’s why you were checking your phone earlier.”

He shrugged at her before unlocking the door, opening it up for the human and cat. “Hey there, you two. Come on in.”

To her dismay, she watched as Ren and red-eyes shared a quick kiss, while Kitty hopped onto the counter. “What the hell, you’re actually letting them in? What part of ‘I only want to talk to Ren’ don’t you understand?”

Instead, he ignored her as she saw red-eyes hand Ren a large, very medieval looking key. He furrowed his brow as he took it.

“It’s warm.”

Then, he suddenly stared at the key, his eyes widening.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Red-eyes asked, a hand on his upper arm.

“Upstairs. Now.” He muttered as he briskly walked over to the staircase, taking the stairs two at a time. She shared looks with the two intruders, then wordlessly got up to make her way to the stairs.

Ren had told her that the attic in Leblanc was his bedroom while he was here for his year on probation, but it still surprised her to find just that once she rounded the corner of the stairs. There was a bed in the corner, shelves, a desk, even a couch that had a CRTV next to it. Everything had a thin layer of dust over it, but if it weren’t for that, she would think somebody currently lived in the attic.

“Huh… I guess my dad keeps it clean?” She asked nobody in particular, but Ren turned around to answer her.

“Yup. Like I said, it used to be a storage room, but your dad keeps it like this now. He claims it’s so he always has an extra bedroom if he ever needs it, but…” Ren smirked. “If you ask me, I think it’s because he wants the reminder on how his life changed that year. And that he hopes I’ll spend a night here from time to time.”

“Enough of that! What happened to the key? Tell us!” Kitty yelped from his position on the couch, his tail swishing eagerly.

Ren held out the key for Morgana to touch. When he did, he shivered. “Woah, the key is ice cold now! What did you do?”

“Nothing. At least, not willingly. When I held onto the key, all the warmth seeped into my hand, and now I can feel it all throughout my body.”

She blinked, totally entranced with the phenomenon. “No way! Did you absorb its power or something?”

“Uhh… I have no idea, actually. I don’t feel any different, to say the least.” Ren said as he closed his eyes, as if deep in thought. “Wait, hold on…”

He fell silent. Afraid of saying anything, she kept quiet. Red-eyes and kitty did the same, the brunette joining the cat on the couch. She stayed standing up, near the stairs.

A few minutes passed, and Ren’s eyes stayed closed.

She was about to walk over and poke him when his eyes flew open, causing all 3 of them to jump back in surprise.

The first thing she noticed was that his eyes were golden, not his normal grey. The second thing she noticed was when he opened his mouth.

“Greetings, three of the Phantom Thieves. It is good to speak with you again.”

_Why does he sound like a girl?_

“Lady Lavenza?!?” Kitty stood up straight, mouth agape at hearing the voice.

_Huh, I can register that name, too._

“Indeed, it is I. It is wonderful to see you, brother.” Ren - no, Lavenza - smiled at the cat in a way that she hadn’t seen Ren smile before. It was much softer. Much smaller, too. But nothing short of radiating pure kindness.

Although, she was confused. “Uhh, can somebody tell me why Ren possessed sounds like a girl, and then he calls Kitty brother? And what’s a Lavenza?”

The girl (Girl? Boy? Poltergeist?) turned to her. “Ah, my apologies. I forgot to address your current predicament first. In fact, that is the chief reason I am here.”

“Huh? You’re here for me?”

“Indeed, I am.” Lavenza walked over to her, held a hand to her forehead (much to her discomfort, but she endured it), and whispered,

“Salvation.”

Her vision went green.

She blinked.

Then, she blinked again.

She closed her eyes.

Then, she opened them, and realized something.

She wasn’t a nameless entity anymore.

She was Futaba Sakura.

Futaba turned to red-eyes and kitty. No, they were…

“Makoto… Morgana…”

Makoto sharply inhaled, before springing up to give Futaba a fierce hug. “FUTABA! You remember!”

Futaba was startled at first, but then giggled and returned the hug. “I-I do! I’m back! It’s me - your local supernerd and hacker!”

Eventually, the two parted, and Futaba looked over to Lavenza with a grin. “That was uhh… Pretty damn anticlimactic. No big reveal, no big events leading up to me getting my memories back. Just a single healing spell. I almost feel let down that it didn’t end in some grand finale, and I’m the one who lost my memories. I can almost feel the disappointment radiating from everyone who would want to see an amnesiac gremlin try to make her way through this pile of poop we’ve all gotten ourselves into. You won’t see me complaining, though.”

Lavenza simply smiled, evidently pleased with herself. “Unlike your past adventures, not everything has to end in a spectacular fashion.”

Then, Futaba realized something. “Wait, you used Salvation, right?”

Lavenza nodded.

Futaba reached up to feel her head and sure enough, the stitches, as well as the small crack in her head, had completely vanished.

“As you are surely aware, Salvation allows a full recovery of the human body, both mental and physical. Therefore, I could cure your amnesia, the symptoms of your mild concussion, and the physical injury you sustained, all in one go.”

“That’s amazing, Lady Lavenza!” Morgana said in awe.

“It truly is.” Makoto agreed. “However, I have a question. How were you able to use your powers in the real world?”

“Woah woah woah, hold up. Shouldn’t we call everyone before we delve deep into the lorebooks? I’m not sure where everyone is right now, but we can’t leave them out of this.” Futaba proposed before Lavenza could answer.

Makoto looked at her phone to get the time. “Futaba, it’s 2:30 in the morning. I’m pretty sure everyone is asleep.”

The Velvet Room attendant continued to hold her smile. “Let them rest. As an apology to the Trickster for possessing his body, I will ensure he has perfect memory of our discussion. He can recite it in full the next time you are all together. Now, shall I answer your questions?”

All three of the thieves nodded.

Lavenza adopted her normal pose of her hands clasped together in front of her, which looked pretty odd when she was using Ren’s body. “As an attendant of the Velvet Room, I hold special powers that are not bound by personas. Therefore, I have the ability to use my powers wherever I please. However, my strength is limited by this mortal body.”

Futaba gasped. “Woah, seriously? So could you, like, cast megidolaon and just level the entire building?”

“I suppose I could. Why, is this an enemy-occupied establishment?” Lavenza held a hand in the air, and pure white energy gathered around it. “I just ask that you clear the premises first, so-”

“Nooooo nononononono!” Futaba waved her hands in the air before using one hand to smack the hand gathering energy, while her other held itself firm over Lavenza’s mouth so she couldn’t cast the spell. “I was just wondering! This is basically HQ, don’t blast it to pieces please!”

Lavenza nodded her head in understanding, and Futaba let go of her. “This is the headquarters of the Phantom Thieves? I will admit, it was not what I was expecting.”

“It’s humble, but the best curry and coffee in the country is sold here!” Futaba beamed. “By the way, I remember Ren once told me that you said you were watching over all of us. Is that true? Cuz if it is, you should know this place. It was Ren’s room while he was in Tokyo on probation.”

“Yes and no. In a physical sense, I am bound to the Velvet Room, and its gateways. Therefore, I cannot physically see out of the Velvet Room. However, I can feel the emotions of those I am connected with. Namely, the Trickster and Morgana, but all of you, to a lesser degree, as you share a bond with him through your arcana.”

“Cool! But if you want to see us physically, why don’t you just come from the Velvet Room and see us? Ren said you have ways to exist in the real world.”

She straightened up, gesturing to Futaba. “Normally, I can only watch. Not because I have the inability to do anything, but because it would be frowned upon to disrupt the world order by intervening in an excessive manner.”

“And leveling an entire building with pure energy isn’t excessive?” Morgana narrowed his eyes at his supernatural sister.

“Ah, I suppose I did get ahead of myself… It has been awhile since I’ve been able to let loose.” Lavenza blushed, her cheeks literally burning red with small licks of flame, the skin starting to sizzle.

Futaba wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or panic. “Uhh… should we do something about that?”

The attendant opened her eyes wide as if realizing what was going on, and conjured a soft green light in each hand, which she used to pat down her cheeks. With Ren’s body’s skin healing fully, Morgana and Futaba opted to find the situation funny.

Makoto, however, was not amused. “As amused as you all are, let’s keep this conversation on track, please.” She groaned, rubbing her temples. “Who would frown upon your actions?”

Lavenza cleared her throat, regaining her composure. “My Master, for one. Currently, he is not around, as he only appears when a Trickster awakens. We, the Velvet Room attendants, are only meant to help our respective Trickster in their quest, but nothing more. This is the first time a Velvet Room attendant has directly intervened after the end of a Trickster’s era, although we do enjoy keeping tabs on those we serve.”

The other eyebrow raised, this one in shock. “‘A’ Trickster? Are you saying there’s multiple Tricksters out there?”

Lavenza smiled sadly, as if recalling a sad - yet fond - memory. “You are partially correct. The word “Trickster” was only used to describe yours. A more broad term that encompasses all would be ‘Wild Card.’ The special power of a Wild Card is they may summon multiple personas, forge bonds with others to strengthen their personas, and are attended to by the Velvet Room. They always are bound to great destinies. Within the last 15 years, there have been 3 Wild Cards, or Tricksters, that my siblings and I have attended to in order to prevent ruin falling upon the world at the hand of malevolent beings. Your Trickster, Ren Amamiya, is the third.”

“No way…” Morgana stammered. “So, does that mean there are other beings like me out there? Created specifically to aid the Wild Cards?”

“Once again, yes and no. There are beings who hold exceptionally close bonds to the past Wild Cards, and who could be seen as guides, but none of them have been born of the Velvet Room. You are a unique case. And to answer your question earlier, Futaba, Morgana is my brother because he is a denizen of the Velvet Room. All denizens are considered to be siblings.”

Futaba tapped the edge of her boot on the floor a few times. “I see. I suppose I could see that. So, Mona is related to a supernatural, super-powerful loli who can apparently possess Ren. Got it.”

As she giggled at the thought, Makoto spoke up. “Let’s take a few steps back. You said that there would be multiple beings who would frown upon you intervening. Who else, besides Igor?”

For the first time, Lavenza’s smile dropped. “Another group would be all the beings who sought to bring about ruin, yet were foiled by the previous Wild Cards. Some have perished. Some have not, as they are the embodiment of concepts that will never perish. For example, one Wild Card sealed away the manifestation of humanity’s negativity and grief to prevent it from summoning the embodiment of death, which would destroy the world.”

“Holy shit, that’s metal.” Futaba whispered. “Go Wild Card! Can we meet them?”

The smile dropped further. “It came at a price. The Wild Card gave her life to seal away her enemy.”

“...Oh.”

Lavenza continued on, unfazed. “Fortunately, even if those sealed beings were aware of and upset by my actions, they cannot do anything about it for as long as they are sealed.”

“I have two questions. How long will it be sealed?” Makoto asked.

“To my knowledge, the seal should last indefinitely.”

“That’s a relief. And second, you said ‘her’. Are you saying that a Wild Card can also be female?”

“That is correct. The Wild Card in question was a female.”

“Aww hell yeah! Girl power!” Futaba exclaimed, pumping her fist. “We’re gonna have to give her proper thanks someday. I feel like an NPC, being saved from an evil I never heard of.”

The smile crept back onto Lavenza’s face. “You have already given your thanks by saving the world that she gave her life to protect.”

“I have a follow up question, though.” Makoto announced. “If Igor isn’t here, and if all previous threats have been pacified, then why are you worried about upsetting this balance you speak of?”

Lavenza took a deep breath. “Do you think that Yaldabaoth would be the last of the cosmic beings that yearn for humanity’s destruction?”

Makoto and Futaba (and probably Morgana, if cats could) went pale.

“There are more beings out there. Or, they will be created. Just as Yaldabaoth was created from humanity’s desire to be ruled over. There is always a perilous battle between light and dark with these beings. When one takes action, the other will respond.”

Makoto began to catch on, finishing for her. “So, you’re saying that if you were to take too many actions, something would arise to combat it? And we would have another situation like Yaldabaoth on our hands?”

Lavenza nodded. “Not to say that it’s guaranteed, but it is a possibility. And all of you have endured more than enough to go through a second crisis again. The next Wild Card has not appeared yet, and therefore the responsibility would fall onto you. It worries me, because I am not sure if you all could survive another ordeal as tough as the last.”

“Yikes. If superloli is worried, then we oughta be terrified of that outcome.” Futaba grumbled. Her face brightened up as she continued to speak. “But, regardless, you gave me my memories back. I was making such slow progress, so you doing what you did was pretty swell in my book. But really, you haven’t answered one question completely that’s been evading my data banks. Why did you decide to show up, and help?”

Lavenza started pacing, of all things. “I could feel the tension that you all had undergone tonight. It was not unlike what I felt when your Trickster was in the game, so I wished to investigate. Although, I was surprised that you all noticed and summoned me so quickly.”

“That’s all due to me!” Morgana snickered. “But… I’ll admit it was pretty lucky.”

Makoto snorted. “Yes, thank you, Morgana. So, to recap. You allowed us to summon you because we seemed to be in serious mental anguish, you could mentally feel Futaba’s amnesia and desired to mend it, and despite most likely realizing what we’re up against, you won’t help us any more?”

The attendant stopped pacing, and looked at Makoto. “I understood there was mental anguish, and saw Futaba’s condition, but I am not aware of the full extent of what is going on. To do that, I would have to establish a gate to the Velvet Room, and doing so would be quite risky. Tell me, what exactly is going on?”

\----------

“Oh my. That is very troubling, indeed. And the circumstances do seem to be supernatural, or Metaverse-related, at least. And concerning the Trickster being shot in the head… I can say with firmness that I was not aware. The situation is most peculiar, indeed. I agree that it is something that needs to be looked into with utmost haste.”

Futaba put her hands together as if in prayer, and she looked over the rim of her glasses. “Please help us! This is gonna be on merciless mode unless we get some help! Especially if the final boss has Metaverse powers!”

Lavenza chewed her lip, lost in thought. The thieves exchanged glances, waiting for an answer.

Eventually, she sighed. “Very well.”

She closed her eyes, held out her hands, and took a deep breath. As she exhaled, her hands glowed a dark blue color. She finished exhaling and opened her eyes, looking at the energy in her hands.

“As you know, this reborn world is a product of cognition. Morgana told you so before. However, he did not tell you, nor did he know himself, that Mementos and reality never fully separated. Yaldabaoth’s work could not completely be undone.To put it simply, the world as you know it is the same, although the possibilities of the Metaverse also exist in the form of the cognitive abilities the human mind possesses. Theoretically, if your cognitive willpower was strong enough, you could retain all of your Metaverse powers. Strength. Stealth. Weaponry. Personas.”

“Woah, that’s insane!” Morgana mewled, impressed, but Makoto had other reservations. “So does this debunk the theory that the Metaverse still exists, since it technically does so in reality as an extremely watered-down, weakened version with no shadows or palaces?”

Lavenza shook her head, energy still glowing in her hands. “Not entirely. Even if the two worlds were never fully separated, that does not eliminate the possibility that the parts that did separate still exist. But this is speculation - I no longer can see everything like I used to.”

With the question answered and the thieves seemingly satisfied, Lavenza turned back to her original monologue. “When the world at large does not believe in such phenomenon as the supernatural, the cognition of the few who know against the billions who don’t have no hope of success. But, there is one thing I can do. You see, in order to ensure Yaldabaoth’s power did not create a world of chaos when used to rebirth the world, my Master and I had to assist in its creation. Therefore, we have the ability to alter the world, to an extent.”

She closed her hands on the energy, and it dissipated. Around them, they felt the tiniest ripples in the air, as if something sent a wave of water against them.

“I cannot rewrite this world into a theoretically perfect one. Doing such would be no different than creating a world Yaldabaoth wished for - a world without worry is a world without free will. A world of free will is necessary, but is one that will inevitably have evil. However, it can also hold just as much good in it. The human heart is a powerful tool, as you all know. But, even a good heart can struggle against evil powers so desperate to achieve their wicked desires.”

She snapped her fingers, and smirked. “But that does not mean we cannot fight back in our own ways.”

As she snapped, the thieves felt something stir within them, not unlike when they awakened to their new forms of personas. But it felt different. It felt much more empty than before.

Makoto looked at her chest, then back at Lavenza. “What was that…?”

The smirk turned into another smile. “To put it simply, I have altered cognition in your favor ever so slightly. Enough to make a difference, but hopefully not enough that it would garner the attention of adversaries, current or future.”

Woah, are you serious?” Morgana gaped, then stood on his hind legs before shouting, “Mercurius!”

Nothing happened.

“Zorro?!” It came out more as a question, as opposed to a call to aid.

Still nothing.

Lavenza giggled. “I would not dream of giving you all your powers back - doing so would likely cause a crisis not only in the form of a potential evil, but what the strength of cognition could do through the population of the world’s thoughts.”

“So, what _can_ we do?” Makoto asked, while looking at her hands. She didn’t really feel any different.

“You will find out soon, I’m sure.” She yawned, which sounded uncharacteristically cute coming from Ren’s body. Makoto tried to picture Ren himself yawning like that, and she couldn’t hide the smile on her face as the other girl continued. “Although it seems altering cognition has left me tired. I shall return to the Velvet Room for now to gather my strength, where I will continue to watch over all of you.”

“Wait, hold on a sec!” Futaba called, just as Lavenza was going to close her eyes.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Is this the only time we’ll see you? Are you not going to visit us again?”

Lavenza subconsciously went to play with a strand of her hair before realizing that her current body’s hair didn’t even go below his shoulders. Futaba giggled at the sight as Lavenza blushed, regaining her composure before her skin could heat up too much. “Well, as much as I would love to visit all of you, bodily possession is not something I can easily maintain without using my strength. I also did not anticipate staying so long in this world on top of using powerful healing magic. If I were to guess, I could likely possess the Trickster for a few minutes a day. And since I remain within his body, it should not alert any malicious presences to you all.”

Makoto nodded. “Understood, Lavenza. Thank you so much for your help, and especially thank you for helping Futaba.”

The redhead nodded eagerly. “Yes! Thank you so much for getting me my entire quest log back! It feels great to remember who I am again.”

The golden-eyed girl nodded. “You are quite welcome. And Morgana, I hope that you continue to be a beacon of hope to all the thieves in this dark time. Guide them to victory.”

Morgana puffed out his chest. “You can count on me, Lady Lavenza!”

Lavenza smiled. “Very well. I will leave everything in your capable hands. As for you, Trickster. I apologize we could not have spoken together, but this is the only method of communication I can allow without consequences. I wish all of you the best of luck.”

The golden eyes closed, and Lavenza went still.

The rest of the thieves waited in an equally still tension, waiting for their leader’s return.

A dozen or so seconds passed before eyelids pulled back to reveal grey eyes. Ren was back.

“Oh, man… I feel more exhausted than when I woke up to Arsene.”

He stumbled backward, finding his old bed before collapsing onto it.

Then, he surveyed the room. It felt weird, having your body possessed. Even if you perfectly retain all the memories that transpired. One of the more important ones being…

He looked at his sister.

“Futaba…”

She smiled wide, tears quickly forming in the corners of her eyes. “Ren, I… I’m back.”

He opened his arms, and Futaba dove into them without hesitation.

As the two of them hugged as if the world were to end within the next 5 minutes, he said a silent thank you to his guardian angel.

_Thank you, Lavenza, from the bottom of my heart._

He felt the key in his pocket glow with warmth for a second, before turning cold again.

\----------

Sojiro found it weird that Futaba wasn’t in the house, but he didn’t panic. She was with Ren, after all. And Ren wouldn’t allow a single human being to touch a hair on her head with malicious intent, especially after last time. They must have gone to the cafe early to make breakfast curry. The old man was a little slow in the mornings, nowadays.

When he realized the bottom floor of the shop was empty, Sojiro allowed the panic to creep in. He was sure that they would be here, and he knew Ren wouldn’t take her anywhere else. So maybe they were upstairs?

He closed and locked the door behind him, set his jacket in a booth near the stairs, and made his way up.

And he could only smile at the sight before them as relief flooded through his body.

Ren, Morgana, Makoto, and Futaba all curled up in Ren’s bed, sound asleep. The makeshift, somewhat dysfunctional, outcast surrogate family all together.

Still though, he was quite surprised. Even if she was with Ren, she went from ‘don’t touch me’ to passing out while sharing a bed with 3 others. Ren seemed to have made a lot of progress.

Silently, he made his way downstairs, and prepared for opening up for the day.

_I’ll let them sleep. It is a Sunday, after all._

\----------

Futaba was the first one to wake up.

The girl’s eyes darted in all directions, at first worried about waking up in an unfamiliar place. It took a few seconds to realize she was in Leblanc’s attic.

_Oh, right. Superloli gave me my memories back, and we all passed out._

With an incredible swift deftness she didn’t know she had, Futaba slid out of the bed, managing to keep the other 3 from waking. Below in the cafe proper, she could smell the familiar scents of coffee and curry. Futaba smiled.

It was good to be back.

She tread lightly as to not wake up the others, her footsteps completely silent on the normally creaky wooden floor as she made her way down the stairs. Sojiro was standing in the kitchen, his back to her, stirring a pot of curry.

Futaba grinned, an idea forming in her mind. She chuckled silently as she slid into a barstool, watching her father fondly. _Ohhhhh this is gonna be so good…_

The redhead took in a deep breath, opened her mouth, and…

“SOJIRO I WANT CURRY!!!!”

She could’ve sworn he hit the ceiling with how high he jumped.

“Jesus Futaba! Don’t scare me li-”

He stopped mid sentence.

“Y-You called me by name.”

The curry ladle fell into the pot he was stirring, and in a flash he was making his way over to her. She reciprocated the favor, meeting him halfway in a tight embrace.

“Yeah, dad. I’m back.”

\----------

30 minutes later found the 4 thieves, plus Sojiro, gathered around a booth as they polished off a big helping of breakfast curry.

Despite himself, Ren could hardly contain his excitement for the occasion. When was the last time that just their little family was together?

Actually, he decided he wanted to find out. “Do any of you remember the last time it was just the 5 of us like this? As much as I love everyone else, being here with… my family, is so calming. Refreshing. It reminds me that this was what we risked our lives for.”

Futaba chuckled. “Muehehehe, I’m gonna give you a pass on bein’ mushy since I got my memories last night, but it’s been awhile.” She had a glint in her eye, the one that was normally followed by something mischievous. “Although, Makoto isn’t truly part of the family yet until you put a ring on it…”

Laughter rang out around the table, but the two under scrutiny found themselves blushing as well.

“Ohoho, called out!” Morgana said smugly, his tail swishing.

“H-Hey, that’s not fair! Wouldn’t Ren need to be adopted first in order to be truly part of the family anyways?” Makoto countered as a defense, her cheeks feeling hot.

Sojiro looked as if he were about to say something, but they were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. The 4 young adults exchanged hesitant glances, but Sojiro put them at ease. “Relax. It’s a shipment for the store. Running low on a lot of stuff. Ya mind helping me out, kid? It’s gonna be a two-man job.”

The word ‘kid’ could mean any of the 4, if you were an outsider. However, to that family, Sojiro only called one of them ‘kid.’

“You got it, Sojiro.” Ren stood up and shuffled over to the door to find a delivery man standing behind a very large box.

“Hi there, I have a package for ya, Sakura-san. It’s a big one. Quite heavy, too. What’s in it?”

Sojiro smirked as he signed the form handed to him. “What else other than coffee beans, curry ingredients, and other supplies? Inventories lined up that I just decided to make a large order of everything at once.”

The delivery man smiled. “I’ll have to come by and get a cup later today once i’m off my shift. Have a good one!”

As he left, Sojiro gestured to the package. “Alright, the two of us should be able to lift it. I’ll grab-”

His eyes widened and his mouth gaped when he realized what he was looking at. Ren was standing with the box between his hands, not even struggling to lift it.

“It’s what? Heavy? Not really. I know he said it was, but maybe he’s weak?”

Sojiro shook his head, mouth still open. “Kid, there’s two 50 pound bags of rice in there, for starters. Followed by coffee beans, curry ingredients, and a new cookware pot.”

Now it was Ren’s turn to be surprised. After a second, his face became one of understanding.

“Oh… Ok. Inside, quickly.”

He motioned for Sojiro to open the door for him, and briskly stepped back inside once he did. The three thieves inside looked at the two of them expectantly, but were slightly surprised to see Ren having little trouble lifting such a large box.

“Damn, that box is huge! And you’re carrying it so easily! What’s in it, balloons?” Futaba giggled.

Instead, Ren dropped the box in front of the booth, causing the entire cafe to shake as a very resounding **_THUD_** rang throughout it.

“Ok, so definitely not balloons…”

“Futaba, try to lift this box.”

The redhead looked at the box. Then at Ren. Then back at the box.

“Uhh, that thing sounds like my strength stat is way below the requirements for it.”

Ren chuckled. “Just humor me, sis.”

Futaba held his gaze for a second before rolling her eyes in an over the top fashion. “Fiiiiiine, although I’m not sure what you’re expecting…”

The girl could barely get her arms around the box when she bent her knees to pick it up. Everyone held their breath as she took one deep breath, then a second…

And then with all her might, she did her best to pick up the box using her legs as her main driving force.

“Holy…” Sojiro stammered, but couldn’t get anything else out.

Ren smirked. “It’s just as I thought.”

Futaba looked down at the big box, realizing that she was actually not only lifting it, but without straining herself terribly. It wasn’t as effortless as Ren’s attempt, but she very clearly could pick up a box that weighed probably more than she did.

“I uhh… I stand corrected. Maybe that Salvation buffed my stats.” She muttered, still looking at the box in surprise.

Makoto and Morgana’s eyes widened after her quip, the cat speaking up next as he jumped to the floor, under the box. “No way! We have our Metaverse strength back! Futaba, drop the box onto me!” He laid on his back, all 4 legs up in the air, ready to catch the box that was easily several times his size.

“What? NO! That’ll kill him!” Sojiro yelled as he attempted to bend down and grab Morgana, but it was already too late.

Futaba let go of the box suddenly, and it fell right onto Morgana’s tiny form.

“NO!” Sojiro’s yell turned to a full-blown shout, his jaw quivering. It wasn’t for long, though, that his expression turned from one to sadness, to disbelief.

He watched as Morgana, a cat, was doing reps with the box as if it was a set of weights.

A cat. Who weighed around 10 to 15 pounds, if Sojiro had to guess.

Was lifting a box that was over 10 times his weight.

“Does… Does anybody mind explaining what’s going on here before I have a heart attack?” The poor old man said, taking a seat on a barstool while still trying to recover.

Ren looked at him with a smirk that he had only seen before during his days as a Phantom Thief.

“Sojiro, we have some of our Metaverse powers back.”

\----------

Makoto sighed. “Are you _sure_ about this, Ren?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun to mess around with everyone. We could all use some good-natured humor to break the tension that gathered last night.”

Makoto rolled her eyes as she pulled out her phone, but Ren didn’t miss the small smile on her face.

> _**Ren:** Hey guys, check out Futaba lifting this box._
> 
> _**Ren:** Futabaisstronk.png_
> 
> _**Futaba:** ᕙ(>▾<)ᕗ_
> 
> _**Ryuji:** What the hell? That’s a huge box! What’s in it, a ton of feathers?_
> 
> _**Haru:** Wow, go Futaba!_
> 
> _**Makoto:** You’re close! It’s 100 pounds in rice, coffee beans, curry ingredients, and a cooking pot._
> 
> _**Ann:** What are you talking about, that’s not close at all!_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** I do not understand, wouldn’t a ton of feathers be far too heavy to lift?_
> 
> _**Ryuji:** Not a ton as in weight idiot, a ton as in a lot!_
> 
> _**Sae:** I think you’re all missing the point here..._
> 
> _**Ren:** By the way, why is everyone texting separately? Aren’t you all at Haru’s?_
> 
> _**Ann:** It’s early! Ryuji and I are still in bed!_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** But everybody else is already up. We are currently having a most impressive breakfast while on our phones to communicate with everyone._
> 
> _**Ann:** What? Breakfast without me!? I’d show up but Ryuji keeps pulling me back into bed saying 5 more minutes…_

“Damn bonehead…” Ren heard Morgana grumble next to him.

> _**Futaba:** Ugh, Morgana is simpin’ like always. Anywho, we got some fresh deets last night. Meetup at Haru’s to sync up our journals?_
> 
> _**Haru:** Why not the usual spot? I know that some coffee and curry would certainly be a good way to celebrate saving those girls._
> 
> _**Haru:** Which, now that I think about it, we should probably refrain from leaving them alone…_
> 
> _**Makoto:** Don’t worry, we’ll bring ingredients, and Ren will brew us all some coffee too._
> 
> _**Futaba:** Hurray, Ren coffee! Don’t tell Sojiro but I like his better :3_

“Hey! You’re even showing me the messages too, do you have to be that harsh?”

“Relax! I’m just trying to drop names. Both of you make equally awesome coffee. It’s amazing they haven’t figured it out yet, though.”

> _**Haru:** I admit, I have to agree to that! Ren-kun’s coffee is something like no other!_

“Well, she’s certainly not just dropping names for the sake of it!”

> _**Ann:** OMG Ryuji and I just walked into the kitchen to see Sae with her head on the desk while everybody else is practically… Just look at this._
> 
> _**Ann:** Saeissodonewiththischaos.png_
> 
> _**Futaba:** I bet Sae totally regrets joining us, the Phantom Thieves (that I am also a part of), huh? :V_
> 
> _**Sae:** I do think about it, but this morning has made me consider why I’m potentially throwing away my legal credibility more than most…_
> 
> _**Futaba:** We’re way too dysfunctional, and you don’t even have Ren - my brother that I love so much - and I, Futaba Sakura, there!_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** Futaba, why are you reminding us Ren is your brother, and that you are a Phantom Thief? We already know._
> 
> _**Futaba:** OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU ALL SUCH NOOBS?! (╯⏒□⏒）╯︵ ┻━┻_
> 
> _**Yusuke:** Oh. I understand now. Futaba has regained her memories._
> 
> _**Futaba:** THAT’S NOT THE ONLY THING STUPID INARI!!! THINK ABOUT THE BOX!_

The chat went silent for a minute, followed by messages flooding in at an unreadable pace.

Everyone in Leblanc was rolling in laughter as Ren could just about squeeze out, “Sometimes I wonder how I managed to save the world with all you dumbasses.”

Maybe things weren’t going to be so bad, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you thought Futaba wouldn't regain her memories until much later, sorry bout that! This was kinda my plan from the start, as a way to introduce Lavenza into the fold. She's also going to play a pretty big part throughout the story, as well, especially since Ren now basically has a 'one a day' DnD spell where he becomes a superloli for a few minutes. I also found pretty interesting how a lot of you thought the key wasn't going to be there when Makoto and Morgana got to the apartment. It never crossed my mind to do something like that, but y'all really seemed to think that was the direction it was going in. So uh, surprise?
> 
> Anywho, this single night in the story has been the subject of the past 5 chapters (and the next two will be dealing with the aftermath). I'm going to do my absolute best to not make this a habit, because if I'll be honest, it gets kinda boring writing out so much about a single event. But there's a ton of stuff going on right now, and it all needs to be addressed! Would y'all believe me if I said I still feel like we're in the opening/setup acts of this story?
> 
> Oh, and shoutout to BrickGirl - that text conversation at the end of the chapter was made with you in mind. There hasn't been one in a long time, and I really enjoy writing them, so I figured I'd have some fun :P


	22. Sae Plays the Uno Reverse Card

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This episode: Sae loves Uno.

Shiho could tell Sae was jealous, but that was nothing compared to her own feelings.

At least Sae could talk to the cat.

But still, she would kill to be able to jump nearly 10 feet in the air as effortlessly as the Thieves currently were. That would ensure her status as one of the best volleyball players of all time. And that wasn’t including the killer spike she could have if she had even half of the strength her friends now possessed. Even if she had Futaba’s powers, who seemed to be weaker than everyone else, she would still be a much better athlete than she was currently.

The two non-powered comrades of the Phantom Thieves sat on the back patio of Haru’s estate, watching as the newly-gifted thieves experimented with their new powers.

Neither of them spoke to each other for a couple of reasons. The first was that they were too in awe of the spectacle in front of them to talk.

The second, and more personal reason, was because she still hadn’t fully recovered from Sae’s interrogation of her.

Or it could just be Sae was still trying to process everything they were told just a little while ago. Between Futaba suddenly getting her memories back, a ‘superloli’ who had the power to literally create and alter the world, and the physical feats performed in front of them, she would be stumped too. In fact, she was.

To Shiho’s relief, the tension broke when the thieves ran over to join her.

Futaba immediately walked over to the table and slumped her upper body on it, groaning. “Ughhh, I haven’t run around that much since the Metaverse existed. I’m pooped. Can we go home now?

Ryuji smirked and patted Futaba on the back. “I forgot ya had enhanced abilities, to be honest. You would just sit in your damn UFO like a lazy ass all the time!”

“So, how are the superpowers?” Shiho asked casually, which took her a second to realize just how ironic that was, as Futaba and Ryuji started bickering in the background.

Ann broke out into a big grin. “They’re amazing! We don’t have our full strength and abilities, but we definitely have a portion of them. Thank youuuu, Lavenza!”

Shiho furrowed her brow. “Jumping 10 feet in the air, blending in with shadows, running twice as quickly as I can sprint, and lifting heavy objects as if they were nothing is only a fraction of your power? Forgive me, but you sound like an anime character.”

Ren leaned on the table next to Shiho, shrugging. Morgana was perched on his shoulder. “We may as well be. But, we’re missing our magic powers, so magical girl stuff is out.”

“Especially when we can’t undergo our transformations to our magical girl Metaverse outfits.” Morgana snickered.

She chuckled as Haru appeared from a doorway, calling out to them. “Hey everyone, please come inside. Our guests have woken up and are coherent! But umm, they aren’t exactly willing to talk just yet...”

A mixed bag of reactions sounded throughout the group, but everyone made their way over to the back door. Before Shiho went in, Ren grabbed her wrist and pulled her aside. Ann stepped aside as well, a curious look on her face.

“Is something wrong?”

Ren chewed his lip, before looking at Shiho, then back to Ann.

“It’s… on the topic of, you know…” Shiho said softly, staring at the garden instead of the two in her presence.

Ann was silent at first, but eventually relented with a sigh. “All right. I know you two became close because you both tamed your inner demons together at high school, and that you tend to lean on each other because of it. Just... let me know if you need anything. Both of you. It’s not just you two vs the world. We’ve all got your back. Ok?”

“We will, thanks.”

Morgana hopped from Ren’s shoulder to Ann’s turning his head back to give the two a knowing nod. He knew enough about the two of them to be included in the conversation if he wanted, but this was their discussion to have.

Sighing, Ann closed the door to give the two privacy. Turning back to Shiho, Ren placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, I know we haven’t covered everything going on just yet, but did something happen since I left last night? You seem to be on edge.”

To his surprise, Shiho fell into him, hugging the young man tightly. “I had a bad moment last night... “

“What? What happened? Are you ok? How bad was it?” Ren’s voice was suddenly filled with concern as he hugged her, rubbing a hand on her back.

“I was touched violently last night. And… I had flashbacks because of it.”

 _“What?!”_ Ren did his best not to let his anger immediately consume him, instead opting to pour his excessive feelings into comforting Shiho.

Now with her guard completely let down, Shiho could feel the tears streaming down her face. They were silent, but persistent, and Ren kept his firm grip on her while she wept.

“Who did this to you…?” His voice was very soft, but she didn’t miss the subtle deadliness behind it. He was very angry at whoever made her like this, friend or not.

Regardless though, Shiho really wasn’t keen on giving up that information. It would likely completely ruin the team dynamic, after all. “I-I don’t want to-”

“Tell. Me.” His voice dropped low, and he pulled her back so they could look at each other.

Shiho brought up a hand to his cheek, caressing him softly. “Just… promise you won’t get angry at this person? There’s… an explanation for it.”

“It depends on how good the explanation is.”

She moved her hand to his shoulder. “If they weren’t lying, it’s a very good one.”

He studied her face silently, before huffing. Shiho knew he was checking signs of her lying. He taught her how to do so, anyways. “Stop that. You know I’m telling the truth.”

“I… I know. I just… You’re important to me. You got me out of a hellhole I had no hope of escaping by myself. I want you to be ok, and I don’t want this to happen again.”

Shiho gave a non-committal noise in response, before standing upright to remove herself from Ren. “You did the same for me, too, as you know. I don’t think I’d be playing volleyball again if it weren’t for you. But right now, I just want to forget all of it. I want to calm down. I’m still not completely recovered from last night, and that’s not just the touching I’m talking about.”

Ren seemed to understand her implications, and he laced one of her hands into his. “Haru has a huge back garden, to the point it reminds me of an English palace. Want to go exploring?”

The girl nodded, giving Ren a quick peck on the cheek. “Lead the way.”

\----------

Makoto was pocketing her phone as Sae slid up beside her, the two of them lagging slightly behind everyone else as they walked.

“Who was that?”

“Oh, it was Ren. Shiho needs to take a break, so he’s going to spend some time with her in the back gardens.”

**THAT GIRL WILL TAKE REN AWAY FROM YOUR SISTER, AND YOU’RE JUST GOING TO STAND BY AND WATCH IT HAPPEN?**

_…Ugh..._

“...Why do you let Ren do whatever he wants with Suzui-san?” Sae asked bluntly.

Makoto blinked, as if she was surprised at the question. “Really? This again? I’m not going to go into details out of respect for their privacy, but Ren needed somebody to be there for him, desperately. So did Shiho. They were at the same school, and already knew each other.”

“And again, I still don’t understand how you were ok with that.”

Makoto stopped walking, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “And I wasn’t ok with Ren being an empty husk. You saw what solitary did to him. If it weren’t for him telling Shiho and Ann having a big mouth, you and I would most likely be the only people who know. Even by today.”

That surprised Sae. “Why did he tell a girl he barely knew, and not his girlfriend? Or any of his other close friends?”

“Because he has trouble confiding in us. Our pasts may not have been pretty, but all of us,” she gestured to the thieves down the hall, “are living in luxury compared to what he deals with. And when there’s somebody as broken as you who understands what you’re going through? That’s something I can’t provide, and I won’t ever be able to.”

Makoto quickly set off to catch up with everyone else, leaving Sae standing there, still processing everything.

**SHE’S WILLING TO THROW AWAY HER LIFE IN SOCIETY BECAUSE HER BOYFRIEND CANT KEEP HIS HANDS TO HIMSELF. SHE WOULD BE A LAUGHINGSTOCK. WE HAVE TO PROTECT HER, DON’T YOU AGREE?**

Sae really didn’t want to give into the literal inner demon in her head, but she was very loud and very persuasive.

She caught up to her younger sister in a few seconds. “But Makoto, what if people found out? What if-”

Makoto wheeled on her, _growling_. “If you haven’t realized it yet, we don’t give two shits about what society thinks of us. If we did, then I’d still be a lap dog to whatever bosses I’d have, Haru would be in an abusive marriage with somebody she doesn’t love, and who even knows where Ryuji, our ‘stereotypical’” she made sure to emphasize the word with air quotes too, “delinquent would be.”

Sae wanted to tell Makoto about Leviathan. In fact, she would probably know about it within the next couple of hours, once the entire group gathered for a meeting. But the courage that the voice in her head had given her was gone now, and she was reduced to trying to make herself feel as small as possible under the younger Niijima’s glare.

Makoto crossed her arms, standing as tall as she could to match her sister’s height. “I hated seeing Ren as sad as he was. It hurt me so much that every single day, I wanted to abandon my university classes and go see him. To go hug him, and tell him everything would be ok. But even then, I can’t relate to him like Shiho can. If Ren and Shiho’s relationship helps the two of them from falling into a very dark place, then I should be thankful for Shiho, if anything.”

By this point, Makoto was starting to breathe heavily, a scowl on her face. “It’s a very long story, but in all honesty, I might love Shiho as much as Ren does. Shiho brought the man I love from the brink, and I love her for it. And she loves me for allowing it to happen, and to support the two of them when I can. There isn’t any sort of established relationship between the three of us, and Shiho respects my relationship with Ren. Regardless, both of them are incredibly precious to me. She is _NOT_ trying to steal him from me. It’s just like back then, when you judged Ren before meeting him. You need to stop making such quick judgements. I thought you were past that.”

Her breathing steadied, and she turned around to face away from her. “If I catch you making a single comment to EITHER of them about the relationship the three of us have, I will be the first one to throw you out of the Phantom Thieves. I love you, sis, but you can’t do this to us. I refuse to let you break me, Ren, Shiho, and everyone else apart.”

Before Sae could even let out a squeak, Makoto jogged down the hallway and around a corner, leaving her alone in the corridor.

“Holy shit…” Sae breathed, before falling to her knees.

“What have I done…”

**YOU’RE ATTEMPTING TO OPEN HER EYES TO THE TRUTH SHE REFUSES TO BELIEVE, THAT THIS FOOLISHNESS OF HER WILL RUIN HER LIFE UNLESS YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.**

“Shut… Up… Stop manipulating me.”

**I’M NOT MANIPULATING YOU. I’M JUST SHOWING YOU WHAT OUR HEART DESIRES.**

“You’re... not what I want! And stop manipulating me...! At this rate…”

And then it hit her.

Her inner self manipulating her actions, causing her to become a completely different person and break the bonds she spent years forging with her allies? All within the span of a week?

Sae felt herself curling into a ball as she leaned against a wall, doing her best to not hyperventilate.

She must be having a...

Sae wanted to cry. To just run away, and leave everyone before she hurt them more. But if she did that, Leviathan would win. Standing up shakily, she made her way down the hall, determined not to lose.

She didn’t know how much time she had left, but Leviathan had been whispering in her ear for about a week now, even if she couldn’t always literally hear it. It would explain her grilling Suzui-san the night they went to Paradise. She just didn’t normally do that type of thing anymore - her merciless prosecuting days were at an end.

But now, with Leviathan practically guiding the way she spoke to everyone… it couldn’t be long before she had complete control, if Sae went by the evidence they all had gathered so far.

She felt herself move quicker down the hallway, rounding the corner Makoto passed earlier.

She had to tell them before it became information she wouldn’t give up willingly anymore.

\----------

“Crap, do we want to go right or left?”

“Hmm… Give me a sec.”

Ren let go of Shiho’s hand, then hopped into the air. For the brief moment he was above the walls of Haru’s hedge maze in her garden, he scanned their surroundings.

He fell back down, then grabbed Shiho’s hand and turned left. “Right is a dead-end. Let’s try this way.”

“Hey, that’s cheating! You can’t do that!” Shiho was trying to pout, but the giggling told Ren otherwise.

He spun around to meet her, suddenly very close together as he smirked and kissed her forehead teasingly. “You’re just jealous, aren’t you?”

The pout became a real one, and she lightly smacked him upside the head. “Of course I’m jealous! I know I don’t have a persona and therefore probably have no way to get them, but one can dream, right?”

“I have an idea, turn around.”

Shiho spun around so her back was facing him. “What is your sche- Woahhhh!!”

Before she realized it, Ren had wrapped his arms around her tightly and jumped up as high as they could. Clearing the hedge walls easily, she got to see the entire maze for a few seconds before the earth came rushing up to meet them. She screamed and closed her eyes, bracing herself for impact, even though she was being held.

In fact, she didn’t even feel the sensation of hitting the floor at all. Ren held onto her tightly but lifted her up over him a bit so his feet impacted the ground first. If he had to bend his knees to absorb the impact, he barely did so.

“Ok, you are going to give me a warning and ask before you do something like that again!” She rounded back on him and shoved him playfully. Or at least, attempted to. Instead, she pushed herself back, her attempt about as successful as trying to shove a wall.

“God, don’t you have a way to turn it off or something? This isn’t fun for me at all…”

To her surprise, he actually gave a serious reply. “I honestly don’t know how to, and I would if I did. I don’t want to use it in the wrong place and reveal that superpowers exist. I’d be stuck as a government lab rat for sure.”

“Hmm… You told me once that the world was reborn and is shaped by cognition. Can you, well.. Do whatever it is you all do with your cognition?”

Ren didn’t respond, instead looking up to the sky in thought. How would that work? Would it be possible to make yourself weaker, just as you could make yourself stronger?

“Huh... “ He hummed aloud, then came up with an idea.

Separating himself from Shiho, he closed his eyes and let his mind drift. He began to think about being really weak. Or more specifically, he made himself think that he was weak. That he couldn’t jump high, or lift heavy boxes, or run super fast. To his surprise, he felt his body very subtly change, as if noting his thoughts.

“Shiho, try pushing me again. Just as hard as you did before.”

She nodded and placed her hands on his chest, before shoving him once more. This time, instead of standing firm, he stumbled backwards and fell on his butt.

“Ow! Shit… That hurt a lot more than I thought it would.” He exclaimed as he attempted to get back up, having a bit of difficulty.

Shiho immediately bent down to help him up, sputtering apologies, but Ren shook his head to silence her.

“I think it’s my fault. Perhaps I went too far…”

Once more, he closed his eyes and focused. He wanted to be normal. He thought about being the exact same person as he’d always been in the real world. Normal, unimpressive looking Ren. He felt another subtle change in his body, and opened his eyes with a breath.

“It seems that I can control cognition, more or less. Or at least, my own. I can make myself stronger or weaker, faster or slower… You get the idea.

“Wow, that’s so cool! I bet there’s a lot more you can do with it too. There’s a lot of different ways to think about yourself. I wonder if they would impact your abilities too?”

Ren made a face as he grabbed Shiho’s hand, leading them towards the exit of the maze. Or at least, where he assumed it would be. “You may be right. I’ll have to spend some time with everyone and see what we can come up with. Thank you for the suggestion, my angel.”

Shiho blushed, and looked away from him. “S-So you’re really going to bring that back, are you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re my sweet, sweet angel, who saved me from the darkness.”

“Pffft, you say that, but I wasn’t your only friend there. That hellhole had people who liked you.”

“Maybe, but the only one I could ever resonate with was you. You’re the one who healed my broken soul, Shiho. Nobody else came even close to what you did for me.”

He gently grabbed her cheeks and pulled the startled girl in for a kiss. She was surprised at first, but it didn’t take any longer than a second or two for her to melt into him.

Several moments later, Shiho pulled away first, blushing heavily. “S-Somebody’s feeling affectionate today…”

Ren smirked and grabbed her hand, continuing onward. “It’s been at least a year since I’ve seen you, and our regular texting and phone conversations don’t do you complete justice. Can you blame me?”

“I suppose not… I mean, I’m excited to see you too. Probably more than you are, in fact. It’s nice to be around somebody who loves me. I... don’t have a girlfriend who loves me or a talking cat that I come home to every night.”

They found the exit, but Ren stopped her short before they left the maze, which would have led them into the garden where they could be seen from the house. He gripped her shoulders, squeezing them softly.

“Look, you may not have an official girlfriend, but you do have people who love you. Ann loves you. Makoto loves you. I love you. Ryuji is pretty territorial with Ann and I understand that, but Makoto and I are more open. She’s especially open to you, because if you weren’t back in Yaizu with me, I’m not sure I would even be here today. I don’t think you realize how much the two of us love and care about you. Neither of us want to see you sad like this, and… Well, maybe there’s something that could be done about that.”

Shiho’s eyes narrowed in confusion before she realized what he was implying, her mouth opening in shock. “Are you saying that… that I should move in with you and Makoto?”

Ren stood back and ran a hand through his unruly hair, puffing out air. “Yes? No? Maybe? I mean, if you’re feeling lonely, we have a spare bedroom you can stay in so you don’t have to come home to an empty apartment when you’re in Tokyo. I’m not sure if Makoto’s love for you is romantic or platonic, but it exists. She would want you to be happy, and if that makes you happy, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

He held up a finger in the air, shaking it. “Although, I’m going to be completely realistic. Makoto is my girlfriend, and while I love you, I love her more than anything. And I don’t think it would be possible to have two girlfriends at once and feasibly make it work.”

Ren didn’t think Shiho was that excited about the idea until he saw how crestfallen she looked once she heard that. “That makes sense. I wouldn’t want to be a burden or cause society to shun you because of our relationship… Whatever it is.”

The young man cursed silently as he pulled Shiho in for a hug, regretting his previous statement. “No no no, it’s not like that. You would never be a burden to us, and Makoto and I don’t care about what society thinks. That’s why we did our thing as the Phantom Thieves in the first place.”

He pulled away and scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he continued. “I know it sounds kinda lame, but it’s all the logistical stuff that comes to mind. I can’t exactly say I have two girlfriends when filing taxes, for example.”

That caused Shiho’s mood to improve, her outright laughing at his embarrassment. “You’re the savior of the world, and you’re worried about taxes?”

“Hey, I’m an honest politician! I have to pay my taxes!”

Feeling a rare spurt of confidence, Shiho grabbed the sides of Ren’s head and pulled him close, their eyes inches apart. “You were. Now you’re a dashing Phantom Thief who fights for justice, not some politician who rots his life away behind his desk.”

He stared into her eyes, and gulped.

They held each other’s gaze for a moment or two, noses barely touching. Then as quickly as she pulled him in, Shiho pecked him on the lips and pulled back to a normal distance. “In all seriousness, I don’t want to impose. I’m just thankful that I have people like you, Makoto, and Ann who love me, no matter if it’s platonic or romantic. But…” Her voice lowered, becoming bashful. “If I could come home to people who love me instead of nobody… It would be a dream come true. I’m… tired of being alone, Ren...”

He could feel his heart shatter in real time.

Ren gave a genuine smile, and held out his hand. “Then let’s talk to Makoto about it. I bet she’ll be more than happy to have a roommate as great as you, angel.”

She blushed and took his hand as the two of them finally left the maze, heading back towards the house.

“There is one thing that I’m worried about, Ren…”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“It’s Sae-san. I don’t think she’d approve...”

He knitted his eyebrows. “I mean, she’s a bit more old-fashioned than the rest of us, but she’s come a long way. Why do you think she would be opposed to you moving in?”

Shiho bit her lip, before looking at the ground. “Well, you see…”

\----------

“I assure you, we will not hurt you! So, if you could kindly put down the chair…”

Haru held her hands in front of her defensively, trying to ward off the girl thrusting the chair against her as if the heiress were a lion.

The five girls had been placed into a single room with a very large bed, since it seemed they would want to stick together. And apparently, when coherent, they became very protective of each other, too.

“No! We don’t trust anybody or anyone!”

“Do you not remember anything from yesterday? We rescued you! You’re safe now! So please, calm down and let us talk things through!” Frustration rose in Haru’s voice as she made a grab at the chair, which caused its wielder, a short redhead with a bowl cut, to growl.

Haru bit her lip, at a loss, but heard a soft voice behind her.

“Hey, let me give it a try. I think I can pass the speech check.”

She turned around to see Futaba peering out from behind the door frame, staring at the chair girl.

Haru studied her hesitantly, before standing back to make way for the gremlin.“Ok, Futaba-chan. The floor is yours.”

“Uhh… Yo. So, I thought it might be a cool idea to show how harmless we are. Cuz, like, look at me. Would we really be bad guys if they had a scrawny-ass shortstack like me? I can vouch for these guys though. About a decade ago, I lost my mom. These guys helped me get over it. And we wanna help you guys too.”

The chair girl lowered her weapon of choice, but didn’t completely let go. “You seem friendly and innocent enough… But you have to forgive us for being cautious. So, who exactly are you people?”

The thieves exchanged glances, which accumulated in all of them looking towards Makoto. She shook her head, which in turn determined Futaba’s answer.

“Sorry, but that’s classified information! To protect both your privacy and ours, it’s-”

“MAKOTO!”

“Jesus what the fuck?!” Futaba (along with everyone else) jumped and looked towards the hallway where they saw Sae power walking up to them. Her face was drenched in sweat, and her eyes were darting from place to place, never settling on any of the faces in the hallway.

“Sis! You look like you’ve seen a ghost! What’s going on?” Makoto ran to meet her sister, grabbing her by the shoulders in a futile effort to calm her down. Her previous anger had all but vanished upon seeing the state of the older Niijima.

Sae wasted no time in giving her the grim news.

“Makoto, I think I’m having a reverse change of heart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear Ren and Makoto are still dating! Shiho just needs some lovin, she's been lonely :( (and underappreciated as a S-tier character)
> 
> Another story-driven chapter here, with a couple of big plot points. Sae's reverse change of heart is an unforeseen circumstance within the Phantom Thieves, so we'll see how they take care of it. Unfortunately, a well-deserved break is a very long way off from our favorite thieves...


	23. The Calm Before the Storm

“Makoto? Where is your sister?”

Makoto knew that tone. On the surface, it seemed innocent enough. But peel back the layers, and you get venom so potent your skin would melt on contact. Despite having her own information she wanted to share with Ren, she decided to lean on the doorframe to the kitchen instead, holding Ren’s gaze carefully. 

“You know I know that tone. Did sis do something? Actually, hold that thought, I have more pressing news.”

“Is it more pressing than the fact that your sister sent Shiho into a total state of panic last night by violently grabbing her?”

Makoto’s eyes widened. “God… I’m so sorry, Shiho... “ The brunette stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.

“I-It’s fine, it’s not your fault. And I’m doing better now, so don’t worry.” Shiho replied, reciprocating the hug. “But, I would like to know why Sae-san is so dissatisfied with me…”

“I can answer that. It also happens to be what I wanted to tell you.”

Ren crossed his arms, chewing on the inside of his lip. “Better be a good excuse…”

“It… it is. Sis thinks she’s undergoing a reverse change of heart.”

Ren had expected many different excuses, but he’d be the first to admit he wasn’t expecting  _ that. _

“You’re serious?.”

“...”

“You’re joking. Please. Just tell me you’re saying something witty to get back at me for the tofu incident.”

Despite everything, Makoto smirked. “Something witty.”

Ren’s eyes half-lidded. “It took you 6 and a half years to bring that back around to me. I hope you’re happy with yourself.”

Makoto giggled. “Very.”

Meanwhile, Shiho was utterly lost from the complete 180 the two took. “Uhh… So, did Sae-san have a reverse change of heart or not? And why aren’t you more serious about it? And what is the tofu incident?”

“Oh, we’re deadly serious.” Ren replied, looking back at the black-haired girl, ignoring her inquiry about tofu. “Poorly-timed humor is just our thing. It’s how we cope sometimes. And you should know that by now, missy!”

Turning back to Makoto, he ran a hand through his hair. “In all seriousness now, I’m actually kind of relieved. Your sister said and did some pretty bad stuff to Shiho last night. A reverse change of heart is something that’ll be easier to fix than a horrible personality, all things considered.”

Makoto nodded. “Once we figure out how to take care of it, then it’ll be- wait, hold on. What else did sis do to you besides grabbing you, Shiho?”

“Oh, she, uh... “ Shiho’s voice trailed off, and it took her several seconds to find it again. “You know what? I’m not going to say. I don’t want you to be mad with her when she’s being controlled by her shadow. It’s not fair.”

The brunette took a few seconds to process this. “That’s… Fair, I suppose. I feel like sis would still disapprove of whatever sort of relationship the three of us have, but she would never be this aggressive against it. I suppose we’ll have to hope she drops it once we figure out how to change her heart back to normal.”

Ren pinched the bridge of his nose. “Add that to the growing list of things we have to worry about now. The Phantom Thieves comeback, reverse change of hearts, the sex trafficking victims we saved, our privacy and my popularity… I really need to change phone numbers again. I’ve gotten hundreds of texts since last night.”

“You could just have Futaba mess with your phone. I bet she could find a way to block all calls and texts except from numbers you have, or something similar.” Makoto offered.

“Oh, good point. Maybe I’ll do that.”

“And speaking of Futaba, there was something I wanted to talk to you about, Ren. I don’t think it’s safe for Futaba to stay in her apartment anymore.” Makoto crossed her arms, looking at the ground.

“I agree. She should be with one of us at all times. In fact, from now on, I think we should  _ all  _ move around in at least pairs, no matter where we go.

“Good idea. We’ll have to bring that up in our next meeting.”

“There is one more thing though, Makoto.”

She looked up from the ground. “What’s that?”

Ren looked at Shiho and nodded his head subtly, egging her to speak for herself.

“I… I want to move in with you two.” She said hesitantly. “I’m really lonely living by myself, and… I want to come home to people who love me. You two are-”

She was cut off via Makoto throwing her arms around the other girl, hugging tight. “Of course you can stay with us, Shiho. Our doors will forever be open to you.”

“That means so much to me.. Thank you both so much.” She said into Makoto’s neck, nuzzling her.

“No need to be so formal with it. We love you too, you know?” Ren chuckled as the two hugged, before making his way back to the kitchen door. “I’ll let you two hug it out. I’m going to go check on the disaster that is our lives.”

\----------

Futaba leaned back in her chair, laptop propped on her legs with her feet on the bed. “I’m not great at this stuff, buuuuut I was also deemed the least threatening. So, what did you say your name was?”

“R-Rumi Maruki.” The redhead responded timidly, shifting uncomfortably from her seat on the bed.

“Mmk. So, if we just do a quick little search…” She typed on her laptop for a minute or two. “You’re married to Takuto Maruki?”

Rumi wordlessly nodded her head.

“Do you have any idea when the last time you saw your hubby was?”

“I… don’t know. But why should I be answering your questions? How can I trust you?”

Futaba sighed, rolling her eyes. “Because we haven’t done anything to you except clothe you, feed you, and offer you a comfortable place to sleep? Sorry lady, but we just want to help. No bad intentions here.”

“Who exactly are you people?”

Futaba was about to give her another witty comeback, but she bit her tongue. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be honest.  _ Especially since this chick is probably gonna put two and two together once seeing the Phantom Thieves were at Paradise last night… _

“Ugh, ok fine. I’m going to tell you, but only because you’d have figured it out anyway and you may as well hear it from the source.” The girl set her laptop on the bed in front of her, then struck a pose. “We’re the Phantom Thieves!”

“... Can you be serious, please?”

“I’m serious!”

“She’s serious.”

Both girls looked to the entrance of the room, where Ren was leaning on the door frame.

Rumi’s eyes widened. “You’re…” Her voice trailed off, but there was no need for her to finish. Who wouldn’t know who the legendary leader of the Phantom Thieves was?

“Indeed I am. Now, please cooperate with my comrade; she just wants to help you. After this, we’ll get in touch with your loved ones and send you home. Does that sound fair?”

“Y-Yes, I suppose…”

Ren smiled. “Good. Now, I have other business to attend to. If you’ll excuse me…” He disappeared into the hallway as silently as he entered, leaving Futaba and Rumi alone once more.

Futaba grinned. “Alright lady, you ready to cooperate?"

Rumi’s eyes were on the empty door frame for a few seconds before turning back to Futaba. She sighed. “I suppose so. I’ll tell you everything that I know, but it isn’t much.”

\----------

“She’s in here.”

Ren stood at a door, arms crossed, chewing his lip. Ann, Yusuke, Ryuji, Morgana, and Haru were at his side.

“Has she said anything since?”

Haru shook her head. “No, she’s been quiet. I’m not exactly sure what that means, though…”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” He said as he went to try the doorknob, only to find it locked. Frowning, he opted to knock instead. “Sae? Can we come in?”

A few seconds later, they heard the soft click of the door unlocking. Ren sighed in relief, then motioned to his friends as he opened the door, all of them filing inside.

Sae had trapped herself in a media room. A comically large tv sat on one end of the wall, practically covering the entirety of it. Couches with cupholders in the armrests lined the other side of the room, which Sae was currently face down in, mumbling incoherently.

“Well… This is somethin’ new.” Ryuji muttered as he flicked on the lights, everybody else moving closer to the woman on the couch.

“I understand that her will isn’t entirely her own anymore… but that still doesn’t make me want to slap her any less.” Ann deadpanned, arms crossed.

“I deserve it.” Came a very muffled voice from the couch.

“Well, if you insist…” Ann said under her breath as she moved towards Sae, but her wrist was quickly grabbed by Ren.

“Nobody is slapping anybody. And before we go any further, I believe now would be the best time to utilize our key use for the day. What do you think, Morgana?”

The cat hopped onto the top of the couch, looking back at him. “Good idea. What made you think of it so quickly, though?”

Ren pulled down the collar of his shirt and pulled out the Velvet Room key, which now hung on a silver chain around his neck. “Because this thing is getting warm. It’s the first time since last night.”

After saying so, he closed his eyes while grasping the key with one hand. A minute later, his grey eyes had traded for golden ones.

“Ah, the rest of the Phantom Thieves. It is a pleasure to see you all again.” The smile that seemed to almost never leave Lavenza’s face lit up as she examined those in the room with her, bowing slightly.

“Lavenza-chan! You don’t need to be this formal with us anymore, I believe we are past that point. Especially since we owe you for helping Futaba-chan.” Haru replied, all smiles.

“You are most welcome. And my apologies, excuse me for the formalities. Perhaps it would be better for me to say ‘wassup?’ the next time we greet each other?”

“Hell yeah, now you’re speakin’ my language!” Ryuji smirked. Next to him, Yusuke was framing Ren/Lavenza’s face, murmuring something about catching their golden eyes in this lighting. And next to him, Ann was still in flat out shock at witnessing the situation in front of her.

“Ugh, get serious, guys! Lavenza can only be around for so long!” Morgana chided from his position on the couch before gesturing to the disgruntled attorney below him. “Lavenza, we believe Sae is having a reverse change of heart. Can you take a look at her? Maybe we’ll learn something worthwhile, like how to stop it.”

“I do not know how much of use my help could be, but I am willing to try.” She said, moving to stand over Sae. “Excuse me, but may you look at me?”

Reluctantly, Sae flopped her body so she was on her back, her wine red eyes finding Lavenza. They widened for a second, and she whispered. “You... No, wait!“

Before she could get any further, her face suddenly contorted into a scowl. “Your eyes! Get out of my face, attendant.” She practically lunged off the couch towards Lavenza, who evaded her grasp with effortless blinding speed.

“Oh my, it seems her shadow has taken the forefront of her mind. It is a similar manner to how I am controlling the Trickster at the moment, only she is having it done involuntarily to her.”

“That’s quite concerning. What can we do to help her?” Haru asked, not taking her gaze off of Sae/Leviathan, who sat with her arms crossed on the couch. “She doesn’t seem openly hostile, but she definitely doesn’t like you, Lavenza-chan.”

“Of course I’m not hostile. I don’t want to hurt any of you.” Sae spat, almost as if it hurt her to say that. “All I care about is my sister’s happiness, and that girl Suzui sucking face with Ren needs to go.”

Ryuji grabbed Ann’s arm before she even realized she was trying to make her way towards the woman, fangs showing. “Woah, hold on there, Ann. It ain’t fair to attack her when her shadow is runnin’ around. Although, wasn’t her shadow usually obsessed with winnin?”

“Wow Ryuji, I’m almost impressed with how you noticed that!” Morgana said with a smirk. “But it makes sense. Her distorted desire isn’t about winning anymore. It seems her new desire is to… make sure Makoto is as happy as possible?”

“Is that really a distorted desire, though?” Yusuke asked, head tilted to one side. “Surely wishing for one’s happiness can’t be the root of such hostilities.”

Ann took a deep breath, calming herself. “I think I get it. If Sae’s having a reverse change of heart, her shadow would latch onto whatever they think would have the greatest chance at causing a distortion. But I guess we don’t really know if that’s the case. Ugh, it sucks when we don’t know anything!”

“Hmm, I do think you are all on the right track.” Lavenza agreed thoughtfully. “If a human is being forced to act on malicious ends by their shadow, and if they are seemingly targeting the Phantom Thieves, then this particular distortion makes sense. Would this aggressiveness not break the relationship between Ann, your new comrade Suzui-san, Makoto, and the Trickster?”

“Oh! That totally makes sense! So Sae’s distorted desires were directed towards what she believes Makoto’s happiness would be. And Sae made it known earlier that she wasn’t fond of society finding out about Ren and Makoto’s relationship with Shiho. So, maybe whoever triggered the reverse change of heart acted with that desire in mind, and then blew it out of proportion?”

“That is a very sound theory, Ann-chan.” Haru nodded. “But then that would mean whoever triggers these reverse changes of heart is able to specifically pick out any particular distortion they wish to utilize. That is quite the scary thought.”

“The only scary thought is Makoto being scorned from society because that boy couldn’t keep his hands to himself.” Sae/Leviathan hissed. “And to top it all off, she’s throwing away her career because she wanted to play thief. If I had half a mind-”

The human/shadow mix was promptly shut up with Lavenza’s hand over her mouth. “I believe keeping her locked up until you can correct this reverse change of heart is the best course of action.”

“That’s gonna be such a pain. Can’t you like, I dunno, knock her out or somethin?” Ryuji asked.

Lavenza looked down at Sae, who in turn glared up at her. They held each other’s gaze for a moment or two, before the Velvet Room attendant sighed.

“Very well. I suppose I did not sense a disturbance when I used Salvation yesterday. And now that I think about it, I may have an idea…”

The hand on Sae’s mouth moved to her forehead, and Lavenza whispered, “Marin Dormina.”

Sae went out like a light, slumping back into the couch. As the thieves shared their surprised reactions, Lavenza turned towards the group.

“That will keep her asleep for a week or so, but I cannot do this again. Using two spells as well as altering cognition in such a short span of time has left me drained. I must take time to recharge. Or, more accurately, the Trickster’s body needs the time to recharge from using such powerful magic in a world where these feats are much harder to pull off.” She said, yawning.

“One quick question before you go, though.” Morgana stepped forward, arms crossed. “I don’t recognize the skill Marin Dormina. What was that?”

“Oh, my apologies! I simply mixed Marin Karin and Dormina together. It will not have any adverse affects on her, but it might help her, too. I am... not completely sure of the level... of the result, however...”

She yawned again, and when her eyes opened, they were Ren’s.

“God, I really gotta stop doing this out of nowhere... “ He murmured.

And then he passed out.

\----------

“Wow, he’s totally out cold.” Ann said, her chin resting on her palm.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him. I think he’s just exhausted.” Makoto breathed as she stood up, running a hand through her hair. 

Haru slumped back in one of the many chairs in the living room, breathing out a sigh of relief.  _ Things have been hectic enough as it is… Ren-kun, please wake up soon… _

Her thoughts were cut short when she heard the front gate bell ring. She groaned in a very unladylike manner while she willed herself to get up, walking to a nearby wall. On said wall was a built-in monitor that depicted a view of the front gate, and what was on it caused Haru’s shoulders to slump.

A news van sat outside her front gate, with a reporter standing eagerly next to the intercom. Normally, Haru would just have one of her estate servants shoo away the press, but she didn’t think she would get rid of them so easily this time.

“Lady Okumura, shall I usher them away?” An older servant said, popping his head into a room adjacent to the main living area.

“...No. Allow me to handle this myself.” She said, a growing resolve within her.

“Are you certain? Wouldn’t it be a risk to speak with the media at this point? I can go and deny any claims made against you, if there are any.”

Haru considered this for a second. She knew that her servants were deathly loyal to her and would follow her to the grave if she asked, but this might be something that she herself would have to handle.

“Yes, although I ask that you accompany me if that’s alright, Haneba-san?”

The older gentleman stepped forward, bowing slightly. “Of course, Lady Okumura.”

Nodding back, Haru pressed on the intercom so her voice would project through the speaker on the other end. “I imagine you may have questions for me. I will be out shortly.”

\----------

Haru was never one for interviews, but they were one of the many things required for her as the CEO of Okumura Foods. But when it related to being a Phantom Thief, there were no limits to what lengths she would go to protect herself and her family. Even if that meant staring down an interview camera on live television for all of Japan to see.

Her and her servant, Haneba, met the news crew out front at their gate, but they did not open it. She learned the hard way that opening the gate meant you would lose all control of when the press would leave (unless you wanted to forcibly push them out, that is), so the tall, looming metal gate between the two parties was almost like a safety blanket to the heiress.

“Hello everyone, welcome back! Right now we’re bringing to you live, a special interview with the owner of Okumura Foods, Haru Okumura, who has stated her positive support for the Phantom Thieves ever since she took her seat as CEO after her late father. Okumura-san, thank you for agreeing to an interview!”

“Of course, thank you for having me.” Haru said, no stranger to how she should act in front of the cameras.

“I’ll jump straight to the point, Okumura-san. Last night, a calling card from the Phantom Thieves was found on the floor of a nightclub that ran a secret underground sex trafficking den. The police also received an anonymous tip from a scrambled voice on a phone call to investigate the nightclub. Do you believe these incidents are related?”

Haru barely missed a beat with her reply. “I listened to the broadcast! Even if these incidents were to be related, I do find it interesting that the Phantom Thieves opted not to steal a heart, but uncover an illegal practice instead.”

“Oh, so are you saying that you believe the Phantom Thieves have come out of retirement?”

Dammit. She let herself get too careless. It was time to dial it back a little; to find something less opinionated, and something more politically correct…

_ Or, I could just be honest, for once... _

“I believe so. Regardless, I am in favor of their comeback, so long as they continue to uphold the same justice from 6 years ago.” She replied, refreshed from giving such a mundane response to appease as many people as possible. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m very busy and need to get back to my work. No further comments will be made at this time.” The heiress knew she was cutting the interview short quite suddenly, but she wanted to escape before pushing her luck too far.

Haru wasted no time in turning on her heels and walking back towards the front door of her estate, but the reporter was not deterred.

“Okumura-san! What do you think of the recent reports of the three dead bodies in the nightclub? Do you believe the Phantom Thieves are responsible?”

It took every single ounce of fiber and willpower in Haru’s body to continue walking, but if anybody saw her face, they would have seen a look of pure horror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, I feel like this is the weakest chapter I've written so far. On the upside, the next chapter is one of the best chapters I've written so far, so y'all got something to look forward to!
> 
> And about Broken Souls, I know I haven't updated yet but chapter 4 is indeed in the works. I just write it in my spare time when I'm not writing to keep ahead for this fic. Personally, I'd like to find more time to write Broken Souls, but I would have to mess with the update schedules. Let me know what y'all think about that.


	24. A Brief Reunion

After the chaos that was the last couple of days, Ren thought the day they would catch a break would never come. Well… Only if he tried really hard to forget the amount of shit they were knee-deep in. But hey, mental breaks are needed every now and then, right?

Yet in spite of everything, here he was, in Shibuya with Shiho on his arm as the two of them waited next to the Buchiko statue in Station Square. In a mild attempt to hide his identity, he donned his fake glasses, and a hood from the University of Tokyo sweatshirt he wore was brought up to hide his trademark tousled hair. He glanced at one of the many display screens at the intersection, grabbing the time.

“She’ll be here in 10 or so minutes… we have some time to kill.” He muttered, letting his shoulders sag. “Want to sit down?”

Shiho nodded, and the two of them took up a bench next to the dog statue. The peaceful atmosphere overcame them - between the dull hustle and bustle of traffic, the deep blue sky above, and the gentle breeze snaking through the many highrises of the city, Ren was indeed starting to forget about it all. He allowed his shoulders to sag further, and rolled his head back lazily.

“If only Makoto were here, then things would be perfect…” He murmured, staring up into the sky. He felt Shiho’s head fall to rest on his shoulder, her voice soft.

“She’s at work, right? Why is she still going if she doesn’t want to be there anymore?”

“For a couple of reasons. Without divulging too much information in public, she doesn’t want to quit. Suddenly quitting the force in the middle of a successful, promising career right when the PTs make a comeback would be suspicious.” His voice lowered. “It’s also a ‘keep your enemies close’ type deal. The police are corrupt, so it’s good to have one of us on the inside.”

Ren felt Shiho’s head nuzzle into his neck, prompting him to lift his head from the back of the bench. He found her looking at him with worry. “But she’s… Isn’t that dangerous, to be there?”

The young man bit the inside of his lip, sighing. “Probably. I mean, people are beginning to put the murders and the Phantom Thieves together in the same case, which means there’s dirt on us. But who said being a PT isn’t dangerous?”

Shiho nuzzled into his neck further, despite the stares they were starting to get due to their PDA. “If it’s so dangerous, then maybe you need all the help you can get…”

That caused Ren to sit upright, making Shiho back off of him with a surprised yelp. “Are you… Are you seriously saying what I think you are?”

The hoodie covered much of his peripheral vision, so he had to twist his body fully to look directly at Shiho, who wore a determined expression. “I am. The only people on this earth that I care about are a part of it all. And the best way for me to be with them, protect them, and love them, is to go all in with them.”

Ren stared at her, struggling to find words for a few seconds. “I.. B-but, you have something very good going for you right now. Your volleyball career is at a peak. You shouldn’t throw it away, you know? You worked so hard to get to where you are today. Please, don’t just throw that away.”

To his dismay, Shiho shook her head. “I’ve made up my mind, and I’ve already texted my coach that I’ll be on hiatus from the team until further notice. I love volleyball, but I don’t want to be lonely anymore. I want to be with those who I love and who love me.”

“This is a dangerous family you’re stepping into.”

“And you’re implying I’m not already tangled up in this mess?”

“Not any more than you need to be. You’re in this shallow enough that you can still get out.”

“Did you forget that one of my volleyball teammates got abducted by these people? And not to mention if I did back out, I would be abandoning the only people who I love, and who love me?”

“You mentioned that already. But we don’t want to see you get hurt, too.”

Shiho narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms. “We are not going down that road again. You know very well I can take care of myself. You taught me how to, and there’s not much better training than that.”

There was a tense silence for several seconds, which was broken by a chuckling Ren. “You’re right; I have trained you well. So well, in fact, that I can’t reasonably argue with you.” He pulled her into a hug, hands on the back of her head. “The truth is, I suspected one day you’d ask to join us, if we ever came out of retirement.”

“That would explain why you trained me so rigorously... “ She mumbled into his neck.

“Mhm. At first, I didn’t think it was something you’d consider. But… After you-know-what, I wasn't surprised when you asked me.”

“I’m not going to allow anything like that to happen again. And this is the best way to do it.”

“I know I say this a lot, but wow, you’ve changed so much since back then.”

“For the better, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then, you should realize nothing will change my mind. I’ve made my final decision.”

“...I'll bring it up in the next meeting.”

Both of them fell into silence, pushing their bodies ever so closer together in an attempt to not think about the horrors they endured together before they blossomed into the people they were today.

\----------

Sumire Yoshizawa was a very punctual person.

It was a part of her nature as an athlete. Practicing was very precise, exact, and punctual. It also bled over into her actual tendencies, which meant that as soon as the time on her phone hit 11 am, she found herself coming out of the subway station in Shibuya Square and drawn towards the Buchiko statue, doing it’s informal job of acting as a meeting place.

She saw them before they saw her. Well, maybe that would’ve been different if they weren’t currently hugging it out while sitting on a bench next to the statue. Didn’t they want to be discreet, especially since he was going to be swamped with fans the second he was recognized?

Although, Ren Amamiya was never one for subtlety. At least, aside from that horrible year…

She shook her head, pushing that out of her thoughts. They all moved past that, together. They were stronger now.

Sumire jogged up to the young couple, tapping Ren on the shoulder. “Excuse me sir, do you mind telling me where I can find the Buchiko statue? I’m supposed to meet people there…” She said in a rare bout of mischievousness, a far cry from her normal introverted self.

The hooded figure turned around, ready to give some lip for disturbing his and the other’s time, but his annoyed look immediately faded away upon noticing who it was. He broke out into a grin.

“Hey there, Sumire.”

Shiho stood up, beaming at her. “Sumire! It’s so good to see you again!”

Sumire returned the smile as Shiho brought her into a tight hug.

“Congratulations on your victory, Sumi. You were amazing out there.” Ren said as Sumire let go of Shiho, moving to hug Ren next.

“Thank you! I owe it to you, senpai. And to you too, Shiho-senpai. Both of you have been such a big help ever since you two transferred back to Yaizu.”

Ren groaned, rolling his shoulders. “Let’s just... not talk about that year. We’re hanging out to catch up and have a good time, yeah?”

Shiho nodded. “Agreed. We’re all doing much better now. So, what do you two want to do? Sorry Sumire, but we didn’t really come up with any plans. We’ve been… busy.”

With the initial excitement worn off, Sumire’s tone turned back into her more usual quiet, serious voice. “I saw. Is everything ok? Are you a part of this too, Shiho-senpai?”

“Yup. It’s a long story, and it happened by chance, but we’ll fill you in later on. But for now, I just got an idea; why don’t we go to Kichjioji? There’s a lot to do there!”

“That sounds like a great idea, Shiho-senpai.” Sumire’s smile came back to her face, already putting the bad memories past her.

“Agreed. Ryuji once took me to this darts and Billiards bar; that could be fun to go to. There’s also a jazz club that I’ve been dying to try out. Sometimes they have live music, but we’d have to check the schedules.” Ren added.

“Perfect! Then let’s be off, there’s a lot of fun to be had today!” Shiho giggled and took her friends’ arms, dragging them back into the train station.

\----------

Makoto was not looking forward to her weekly Wednesday meeting.

Standing outside the conference room, she could already hear other officers discussing the event with the Phantom Thieves. As she mentally prepared herself to yet again be seemingly oblivious to the inner workings of that night (as well as deny all plausible actions of being a thief from those who knew her boyfriend was the ringleader), she heard a voice from behind.

“I trust you’re not exactly up for this meeting, are you, Niijima-san?”

Her eyes went wide for an instant before she regained her composure, turning around to face commissioner Sugawara. His face wore a pleasant smile, but she could swear there was a glint of annoyance in his eyes.

Makoto decided to pretend she didn’t notice it. She stood at attention for her superior. “With all due respect, I haven’t been fond of this whole week, sir. My boyfriend is many wonderful things, and a murdurer is not one of them.”

Sugawara chuckled. “I’m sure that’s true, but I’m not entirely stupid, Niijima-san.”

“Sir?” Makoto remained respectful, but she felt herself subconsciously steeling her mind for a potentially dangerous conversation.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Sugawara turned away from the conference room door, back to the elevators. “I’ve already let the team know you and I won’t be attending. Why don’t we go into my office? We have a few matters to discuss.”

It wasn’t an offer. It was a demand.

Makoto wordlessly followed, trying to drown out her building anxiety as she pulled out her phone to send a quick text message.

\----------

Sumire was not amused with how easily Ren crushed all of them at 501 darts.

“I still want to know how you didn’t miss a single dart. You could be world champion or something!” She grumbled, looking at the ground in a mild pout.

“I have a sneaking suspicion about his uncanny accuracy…” Shiho muttered, giving Ren the side-eye.

Despite the pouty appearances of his two friends, Ren was acting very smug. “Then you shouldn’t have accepted my bet. I’m looking forward to my free drinks at Jazz Jin.”

He set his face in a grin, which didn’t last long before Shiho shot her hands out to pinch his cheeks hard. “Ow, ow, ok! I’ll stop with the smug bragging.”

Fortunately, a welcome distraction in the form of a text caused Shiho to let go of him, allowing the young man to check his phone. Upon pulling it out, he saw mixed feelings once he realized who the sender was. His heart only sank more when he read the actual message.

> _**Makoto:** Commissioner is calling me into his office for a private discussion. Will keep you posted._

Ren’s frown stirred Shiho’s suspicion. “Who was that?” She asked uneasily.

“It’s Makoto, but... Well, take a look.” He held his phone up for Shiho to read. Sumire, who knew little more than the fact that the two of them were likely looking at Phantom Thieves business, respectfully kept her distance. While she openly supported Ren and his cause, she didn’t want to be a part of it. She had her own goals and dreams she wanted to continue pursuing.

Shiho was the total opposite. The Phantom Thieves and those in the organization were now her life. The girl loved volleyball, but a sport can’t hug you and tell you everything will be ok at the end of a hard day. “That doesn’t look good. Is he, you know…” She lowered her voice. “Corrupt?”

Ren nodded solemnly as he typed out a response message.

> _**Ren:** Understood. Please stay safe, Makoto._

As Ren pocketed his phone, Sumire found her curiosity finally getting the better of her. “Who was that, senpai? Is everything ok?”

“It was Makoto. She got called into the commissioner’s office.”

“I see.” The girl’s voice seemed a little downcast, as if expecting the worst already. “I’m not exactly sure what is going on, but Niijima-senpai is tough. She can handle herself.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He sighed, resetting his mood. “Anyway, I’m getting kinda hungry, and it’s a few hours before the jazz club opens up. Anybody want to get some food? There’s a few street vendors just down the way.”

“I don’t know, Ren… Would a street vendor have enough food to satisfy Sumire? She may eat them dry!” Shiho chuckled at Sumire, who was narrowing her eyes good-naturedly, with a smile to match.

“That sounds like a challenge, Shiho-senpai. Let’s put it to the test!”

\----------

As Makoto closed the door to the commissioner’s office behind her, she could already feel herself suffocating mentally within. Regardless, she did her best to play it cool, despite the cold sweat on the back of her neck.

“Why did you ask me up here, sir?” She asked innocently, despite having a very educated guess for his reasoning.

Sugawara’s eyes focused on Makoto like a hawk on a mouse. “Let me get the facts straight, Niijima-san. I know you did something with my hidden flash drive.”

_Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot-_

“I’m not sure what you mean. Could you explain, sir?”

“Perhaps you forgot that there is a message given for when a flash drive is taken out without being ejected properly?

This time, Makoto couldn’t contain her reaction. Her breath hitched, and her eyes widened. She had messed up, and royally so. Realizing there was no escaping from this fate, she sighed deeply, regaining her composure.

“What do you want?” All formalities in her voice had dropped; the cool and collected Queen coming out to play.

Sugawara chuckled lowly. “Niijima, we know who all you thieves are. And now that you have resurfaced, it will make things that much easier. Although, that calling card is a devious trick indeed. The public would definitely realize something had happened if you all went missing so quickly…”

Despite the situation, Makoto felt herself giving a silent thanks to Ren’s insistence on leaving a calling card. “Don’t underestimate us. We will bring you, and everyone else in this new conspiracy down.”

The low chuckle turned into a full, earnest laughter. “How jovial, Niijima! We are not as transfixed on domination like that fool Shido was. At least, not as long as we know there are little pests we must squash first.”

“Then why not just ‘squash’ us now? Is that why you have me alone in your office?”

Sugawara shook his head, a hand on his chin. “If it were up to me, Niijima, I would have you killed right here and now. However, one of my associates has other plans in store for your little group. No, you have crossed him, and he wants to play a game as his revenge.” He withdrew a folded piece of paper from his jacket pocket, and tossed it onto the desk between them.

Makoto stared at the paper with narrowed eyes. “What is this?” She asked cautiously.

“This is something my associate wished to give to you. Think of it as a gift, to give you a small head start. Again, I see no point in this, but he was insistent.”

The young woman’s eyes flashed back up to stare down Sugawara in a classic Niijima glare as she reached forward to take the paper, her eyes never leaving his. Sugawara smirked in response.

“Ah, the Niijima glare… You truly were the Ice Queen, The Iron Fist of Justice, but that title ends today. You are relieved of your duties, effective immediately. Pack your things and leave this place. The next time you are here, it will be in handcuffs. Of course, you won’t leave the station alive, I’m sure…”

As his voice trailed off into heavy laughter, Makoto did her absolute best to not just unleash her fury on the man in front of her. As satisfying as it would be, it would spell doom for her, along with all of her friends. Being relieved from the police force didn’t even take her by surprise. She expected it as soon as she was summoned, but she never saw this particular outcome coming to fruition. At least, not this soon.

Finally having enough of this, Makoto wordlessly turned her back on her former boss, striding towards the door. Her hand touched the handle just as Sugawara spoke up one last time.

“You have one week before the game begins. I wish you the best of luck, Phantom Thieves of Hearts.”

\----------

If there was one thing Futaba Sakura thought she would never do, it was babysitting duty.

Ok, well, maybe not quite babysitting. But definitely an escort quest. Why did Rumi have to grow to trust Futaba, of all people? Why not literally anybody other than the socal recluse? None of the other girls minded who escorted them when they were picked up by loved ones, but Rumi insisted Futaba be the one to send her home.

The two redheads sat in one of the many countless parks throughout Tokyo - a nondescript place that would give nothing away as to the Phantom Thieves’ mysterious ways. Of course, Rumi had been essentially sworn to secrecy by her saviors, but they weren’t taking any chances.

It wasn’t hard for Futaba to find and get in touch with Rumi’s husband of 10 years, but she found that he was currently working on the other side of the country. Rumi was surprised to hear it - last she knew, her and Takuto had an apartment together in downtown Tokyo. It made Futaba wonder as well, at least until she heard more information.

To Rumi’s educated guess, she had been a sex slave for the better part of 3 years - she lost count of the days after a while. During Futaba’s short texting stints with her husband, he said he searched for her for two years, eventually accepted he would never see her again, and moved out of Tokyo in an attempt to move on. And fortunately, he didn’t remarry.

That woulda been hella awk…

Futaba cast a glance over at the girl on the bench next to her. Despite Rumi being about a decade older (Futaba guessed), she looked to be the hacker’s age. Rumi was short, pale, underdeveloped, and very malnutritioned. Seriously, she looked like a walking skeleton due to the lack of food given to her during her time as a prisoner.

Futaba didn’t mention that part out loud, though.

What was said out loud next came from Rumi. “You know, there was a point in time I just accepted that was my fate. I was destined to do that for the rest of my life.”

She looked at Futaba, who stared back silently.

“I know it was probably the worst thing to do - give up - but after you’re a part of it for so long… it kind of just breaks you. You feel like there’s no way out, and all that’s left is just to accept it.” Her voice was soft and reserved. It reminded Futaba of the first time she stepped out of her ‘tomb’ herself.

“Umm… it would be nice if you said something.”

Futaba groaned inwardly, but she did her best not to show it. “Sorry lady, I’m not exactly the best at discussing heavy shit. Especially with people I don’t know. I can only really do it with my brother. Maybe the other PTs.”

Rumi’s head tilted. “By any chance, is your brother the one who popped his head in the door the other day?”

Her eyes narrowed. “How did you know?”

“Hehe, I could see it in your face. It’s the subtle things that I pick up on.”

“And how do you know how to do that? Is your speech level 100?”

“Takuto’s profession is as a therapist. He would teach me some tricks every now and then, so I could read people better. Even if it was really subtle, I could see the way you relaxed when he showed up, and the love in your eyes was obvious. But it was more of a sisterly love, than a romantic one.”

Futaba wrinkled her nose. “Ew! I would never make him my romance option! I don’t always swing that way, anyway. But, I’ve always seen him as a brother to me.”

“Oh? Only _seen_ him as a brother?”

“...Shit. I feel like I’m letting you know more than you should know, but yeah. We aren’t blood-related, or even related by name at all. But our… circumstances in the past have caused us to grow really close to each other. We may as well be siblings. Plus, his parents are… Well. Actually, talking about that without his permission would be really bad. Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this stuff.”

Rumi waved it aside, as if the reasoning was simple. “Oh, that’s easy. You’re probably never going to see me again after today, and since you gave me my life back, I’ll take all your secrets to the grave. It can be easier to talk to people you don’t know sometimes.”

That got Futaba thinking. She leaned back on the park bench, looking up at the cherry blossoms, which were on the very tail end of their lifespan. “Huh, I guess that makes sense. It does seem pretty easy to talk to you, lady, but I ain’t about to spill all my juicy life secrets on you!”

Rumi giggled. “I wouldn’t expect you to, nor do I want to know, in all honesty. But I do have a couple of questions I haven’t been able to answer on my own…”

“Like what?”

She shifted on the bench, which caught Futaba’s attention enough to look back down at her. “Well, you haven’t even told me what your name is. If I knew, I could thank you personally, for everything.”

Futaba scoffed. “Keep dreamin’! Our leader’s name may be public information, but the rest of the Phantom Thieves’ identities are unknown. We wanna keep it that way, too.”

“Well, is there anything you’d let me call you?”

“...Fiiiiine, if you’re gonna be that annoying, you can call me Oracle. Now, next question, Miss nosy?”

Rumi continued on, unperturbed by the poke. “Ok, Oracle-chan. Why did you join the…” Rumi looked around to ensure they were still alone in the park, despite Futaba confidently spouting the name like Ryuji would earlier. “The Phantom Thieves? You don’t look like much of a thief. None of you do, for that matter.”

Futaba chewed on her lip, deciding how much information she should divulge. “None of us do because we weren’t exactly thrown into this by choice. But here’s the spark notes version for my story: I wanted revenge on the person who murdered my mom and convinced me I was the reason she died. It put me into a social coma for two years, along with being abused by the rest of my blood family for being a nuisance. The Phantom Thieves saved me. They pulled me out of the house I thought would be my tomb, and they helped me integrate back into society. I kinda owe my life to them.”

Rumi leaned back into the bench, seemingly satisfied. Futaba noticed her face was hard to read. “I see... Did you... get the revenge you wanted, at least?”

“We didn’t kill anybody, if that’s what you’re asking. The Phantom Thieves don’t kill. But yeah, justice was served, and all that fun shiz.”

“So… if everything was resolved and you all went into hiding for so long, why make a comeback now?”

“That’s a secret!” Futaba exclaimed, winking at Rumi. “But just know we’re back, and better than ever!”

Rumi smiled at the thought. “That’s comforting. After experiencing the kindness and bonds of the Phantom Thieves firsthand, I hold nothing but fond feelings for your group.”

Futaba opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by a buzzing from her phone. Pulling it out, her eyes widened at the notification.

“Ok, lady. Your hubby is close by, so it’s time for me to blow this popsicle stand. Now, remember the story I told you to go with?” She stood up, stretching her arms behind her back.

“Yeah. We were saved by the Phantom Thieves, but we never spoke to them for an extended period of time. They kept us in a safe place until we could get picked up, and I was guided to a drop-off point to wait to get picked up by Takuto. If I’m ever asked, you all wore masks, so I don’t know what you look like. Is that it?”

“Mhm, that’s the plan. Honestly, I highly doubt all of those we rescued will stick to it, but the more, the better. Please just don’t be a dummy and spill stuff you shouldn’t know, alright?”

Rumi also stood up, nodding. “Don’t worry; I owe you all so much, and this is the least I could do to repay you all. But Oracle-chan, from the bottom of my heart, thank you and the rest of the Phantom Thieves for giving me my life back.”

Futaba was pulled into a strong hug, to which first caught her unaware. She did her best to shake herself from Rumi’s grasp without using the Metaverse strength she now possessed, grumbling uncomfortably. “Pleaseeeee let go now, I can’t do physical contact with people I don’t know.”

“O-Oh! How mindless of me, I apologize. I just… wanted to express my thanks to you.”

She got a shrug in response. “Express it by giving the PTs good media rep. That’s more than enough for us.”

Rumi nodded. “I understand. Oh, and one last thing, Oracle-chan…”

Futaba, who had already started to turn away from the other, swung her head back. “Wassup?”

“You still seem to have your own quirks and insecurities with social interaction, but I can tell you’ve come an extremely long way. You can be mature when it counts. Please make sure you keep that in mind, and keep your head high. I’m rooting for all of you!”

Futaba stared at Rumi for several seconds, before breaking out into a rare genuine, warm smile. The kind that was devoid of her normal mischievousness, with kindness in its place instead. “Yeah, I guess I have changed a lot. Just like you, the Phantom Thieves gave me my life back. They also gave me a new family to belong to. Thanks for reminding me of that, lady. Seriously.”

She thrust her hands in her sweatshirt pockets, turned back to look ahead of her, and strode out of the park.

She'd never admit it, but Futaba ended up happy she got put on babysitting duty.

\----------

> _**Makoto:** Everyone needs to meet at Leblanc tonight. This is top priority._

Ren’s eyes widened as he looked at the text, the beef passing from the takeout box in his lap to his mouth halting in midair.

“What’s up, Ren?” Sumire asked, swallowing a big bite of her own beef bowl. The trio ventured into the more secluded streets of the neighborhood to find a small beef bowl shop, and to Sumire’s delight, they were holding a special sale.

“Oh, I just got a text from Makoto…” His tone was nonchalant, but he looked past Sumire on the bench they were sitting on to see Shiho staring at her own phone.

> _**Ryuji:** C’mon, already? Why can’t we just catch a break?!_
> 
> _**Makoto:** I’m afraid a break will be far in the future. Let’s all meet up tonight at 7 if that works?_

As the thieves buzzed in with their affirmations, Ren noticed Shiho had sent one of her own.

“Do you think it was a mistake I was put in this group chat, Ren?” Shiho asked, setting her beef bowl down in favor to hold her phone with two hands. “Should I show up tonight?”

“Um, is something big going on? Something about… you know what?” Sumire did her best not to look at either of the two phone’s discreetly, but her curiosity was starting to win her over.

> _**Ann:** Wait, hold on a sec. Why did you put Shiho in here, Makoto?_
> 
> _**Makoto:** Unfortunately, she was wrapped up in all of this. I’m sorry, Shiho :(_
> 
> _**Futaba:** AAAAAAAAAAA why’d you put her in here, I haven’t encrypted her phone yet! I didn’t realize she was gonna be a long-term party member!_

Ren and Shiho both looked up from their phones and at each other, sharing a look. A very confused Sumire was in between them, glancing from one to the other. “What’s going on, senpais? Do you need to go?”

“I’m… not sure.” Ren admitted, placing down his food and chopsticks in favor of running a hand through his hair. “I’m gonna call Makoto. See if I can’t get anything cleared up. And uh, Shiho, you’ll need to talk to Futaba tonight and get set up.”

He quickly set down his food and dialed Makoto’s contact. She picked up instantly.

_“Ren, I’m so sor-”_

“Hey, hey, no apologizing please. Am I correct in assuming whatever happened isn’t your fault, but you still feel like an apology is in order?” He asked as he found a quiet corner in the entry square to the shopping district, where prying eyes and ears would pay him no attention.

A sigh was heard on the other end. _“I messed up during the Shibuya heist. Although it didn’t matter in the end, because they knew what was going on from the start…”_

Ren’s mood immediately darkened. “What’s going on? I’d prefer to know in advance what’s going on before walking into Leblanc tonight.”

_“It’s… Well… I was let go from the police force today, effective immediately. I was sent home in the middle of the day.”_

That came as a total shock. “Shit… I know we expected this, but I didn’t think it would be this soon. Don’t worry though, we’ll be able to bounce back.”

_“Ren, I’m afraid it’s worse than that. They know about us... All of us. I’ll elaborate more tonight, but they’re giving us a week to prepare before we’re all labeled criminals again, and we’re going to be chased down.”_

Ren rarely cursed, but the string of silent profanities in his head were aplenty. _Fuck. Shit. Shit-fuck… and other curse words I can’t think of right now._ “...Motherfu… How did they find out?”

_“I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, it was the security footage from Paradise. Haru did confirm she destroyed the computers in the control room at some point, but they must have salvaged some data. We... didn’t exactly hide our identities, either. If only I realized it and had been more careful, I-”_

“Makoto, stop. Blaming yourself for past mistakes isn’t going to get us anywhere. Let’s use that energy to look into solutions tonight.”

Another sigh. _“You’re right… I’m just worried. But you know that.”_

“Heh, you’re always worried. But you know us, we’ll figure it out.”

_“We always do. Love you lots, see you tonight.”_

“Love you too, Makoto. See you soon.”

\----------

She wouldn’t tell the two of them out loud, but Sumire fully expected for Phantom Thief business to interrupt their plans today. With how often they were in the news this past week, combined with the fact that there might be murders connected to the case, she was shocked Ren (and now, Shiho apparently) even had time to see her, let alone make a public appearance.

Sumire didn’t press Ren when he came back to her and Shiho, and she didn’t complain when he said the two of them needed to leave sooner than expected. And while Sumire didn’t fully endorse the Phantom Thieves and their ways, she was aware they performed acts that saved people who would otherwise not be saved. She was saved by a Phantom Thief, after all.

Still though, she was extremely thankful to see her two best friends again. It _had_ been quite a while.

“I’m not sure when we’ll see you again, but I’ll do my best to keep in touch with you, Sumi.” Ren said as he pulled her into a hug.”

“Please do, Ren-senpai and Shiho-senpai.” She replied, hugging him back before she turned to hug Shiho, the train pulling up behind them. “I hope to see you two soon. Please, be safe!”

Sumire exhaled deeply as she waved their train to Yongen-Jaya off, then turned around to head to her own connection. It was nigh rush hour, and the smaller girl had to dodge deftly in and out of foot traffic in an effort to not get trampled. And in the sea of people that populated the subway, it would be pretty easy to blend in. However, Sumire was perceptive. Ren had taught her that.

And her perceptiveness allowed her to note the fact that a man with a strange tattoo on his neck had been observing her from a distance ever since she got to the station.

She had had experiences with the occasional fan who recognized her before, but this felt different. It was a genuine, gut feeling. To counter it, Sumire made a quick turn away from her normal route home when she realized there was a train at a nearby platform. Scanning her pass through the turnstiles, the athlete sprinted to just about squeeze into a tiny spot on the train. A quick check at the sign outside told her the train was bound to Harajuku. Well, that was fine. The station there had another line she could take back home. It might take a bit longer, but it would also get her away from that creepy guy.

Although, even though Sumire had eluded that strange tattooed man, something still egged her. She couldn’t put pen to paper on it, however, so she made a quick mental note to give it some thought later that night. Even if it turned out to be nothing, at least it would put her mind at ease.

_Maybe I could even ask Niijima-senpai… There might be some hits on a criminal or a yakuza clan that has those strange neck tattoos… Which is a very scary thought._

She did her best not to think about it.

Her best wasn’t much of an effort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure Rumi has more dialogue here than the entirety of P5R.
> 
> There were a lot of moving parts this chapter, but I really enjoyed writing it. Lots of good character development, the plot was advanced quite a sizable amount, and it alludes to the fact that shit is gonna hit the fan very soon!


	25. Welcome to the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everything is doom and gloom in the PTs' lives!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100K words! Nice!

Shiho and Ren were the first two to show up to Leblanc - an hour early, even - but Sojiro had already flipped the sign to ‘closed’.

“I already have more money than an old guy who lives alone like me needs.” He said with a smirk. “Thanks to smart budget management back in my younger days, not to mention Haru pays me far more than she should when you lot rent the place out. She shouldn’t pay me at all, to be honest.”

Ren chuckled as Shiho took a seat at the bar, the former heading behind the counter to throw on an apron on autopilot. “You keep the cafe closed more than open these days. I’m starting to think the only reason you’re open anymore is because of Haru. If she didn’t pay you, you’d be on the streets.”

Sojiro scoffed at the sarcasm directed at him as he began to measure out a cup of Blue Mountain coffee beans. “Don’t you underestimate me, kid. Now, get to work. We got a full house tonight, from the looks of it.”

“Watching you two bicker makes me forget that we’re in a deep crisis right now.” Shiho spoke up from her position in the booth, her chin resting on her fist. “Do you guys normally treat horrible situations like this?”

Ren shrugged. “Like I said a couple of days ago, we tend to cope with poorly-timed humor and sarcasm. We’ve tried ‘serious’ in the past, and realized it makes us really high-strung. Maybe even actually argue with each other. We had a few moments like that during our Phantom Thieves stint.”

“Oh, I see. That’s fair, I suppose.” She nodded in silent thanks as Ren handed her a cup of coffee. “Although, it does make sense. The last thing I think of when it comes to you, and everyone else, is ‘serious’.”

“Heh. It’s just not our style. We would normally try to have fun.” Ren smiled at the girl. “And it was pretty fun, all things considered.”

Shiho smirked back at him. “Aside from all the near-death experiences.”

“Aside from all the near-death experiences. Definitely.”

The girl was going to remark further, but was cut off from the door chimes going off, revealing a nonchalant-acting Futaba as she walked in.

“Yo.” She said gruffly, flicking her head up in greeting.

Ren couldn’t manage to completely stifle his laugh. “Woah, don’t scare me too much. Here, have all my pocket money.”

Futaba rolled her eyes in response, but still walked up to give Ren a tight hug. He returned the embrace just as tightly.

“Don’t kill my vibe! I’m on a total cool streak right now!”

The two pulled away, Ren’s hands resting on her shoulders. “Oh? And why’s that?”

She put a hand to her chin, striking a pose with her face. “Because that one chick who clung onto me thinks I’m really cool! So I totally am! And I handled the hand-off perfectly, too!”

Ren’s smile only grew wider as he moved up a hand to headpat his sister. “Oh yeah. You’re the coolest girl around. An absolute unit.”

“Dork.” She muttered, and flicked his forehead. Ren was about to respond, but instead heard giggling coming from Shiho’s direction. When the two turned to look at her, she waved a hand dismissively.

“Oh, don’t mind me. It’s just, you two look nothing alike, but could easily be related by blood. I bet people are normally shocked to hear that you aren’t?”

“Ha. I wish. I would do a lot of things to get the opportunity to change my name, but I had to keep it for the sake of being a politician. I guess now that things are over, I could change it…”

From out of his line of sight, Sojiro couldn’t help but smile fondly. 

Before the moment was lost, he quickly made his way over to refill Shiho’s coffee. He leaned in close, and whispered so only she could hear. “If you don’t mind, record this for me.”

Shiho’s eyes went wide, but she understood. Silently pulling out her phone, she swiped to the camera app and hit record, a huge smile growing on her face.

With everything in place, Sojiro cleared his throat and popped the question as he made his way back to the counter.

“Well then, how does the name ‘Ren Sakura’ sound?” He asked slyly.

Ren spun around to look at his surrogate father, eyeing him closely. “You know I would be 100% for that. Fat chance of that happening now though. It sounds like you know the situation; we’re going to be on the run as wanted criminals. There’s no way I could get my name changed anymore. At least, until this all blows over.”

“That would be the case. However, what if things were already settled?”

A new voice that was very familiar to Ren entered the fray, and he turned around to see a wide-smiling Makoto walking down the stairs, a manilla folder in her hand. Morgana, who had been left at home that day, was standing on the steps behind her, strangely silent for once. “It was supposed to be a birthday present, but this was pushed up given our circumstances.”

He immediately broke into a relieved smile upon seeing his girlfriend. “Makoto! I’m glad to see you unharmed.” But just like that, the smile fell. “I’m… I’m sorry for ruining your dream of becoming a commissioner.”

Makoto simply shook her head and pulled Ren into a fierce hug, running her hands through his hair just how he liked it. “Don’t be. If anything, I’m thankful for this. It’s helped me realize I want to do as much good in the world as possible, and this is the most efficient way to do it. Much better than working with some corrupt cops who already know who I am.” She pulled her head out of his neck to rest her forehead against hers. “And besides, I’m happiest when I’m by your side. I wouldn’t trade this for the world.”

Ren breathed happily against Makoto, then settled for a quick peck on the lips. “Love you, Mako.”

“I love you more.”

“Alright, alright! Enough with the cheesy shit, just open the folder already!” Futaba was practically hopping in excitement, antsy as all hell. Which, of course, made Ren suspicious.

“Where’s the hidden camera for the prank you’re about to pull on me?”

“Ughh, there’s no prank, you moron! Just open it!”

Taking the folder from Makoto, Ren peeled back the seal keeping it closed and pulled out a small stack of papers. When he saw the words at the top of the front sheet, he had to use all his strength to refrain from dropping them. His eyes immediately teared up, and he started to choke back sobs.

It was happening.  _ This was real. This… This… _

He looked up to Sojiro, his vision blurry with water. He could just about make out Sojiro’s smirk. “It’s been in the works for awhile, kid. Makoto, Futaba, Sae and I have been working on it in secret, with Makoto being your point of permission. We had to work around you not knowing, which is pretty hard given you’d obviously need the actual person’s permission for adoption, but it worked out in the end. I got a copy of the signed papers back the night you all were out at the nightclub. I planned on giving it to you as a birthday present, but after Makoto told me what was going on, we thought we’d turn it into an early gift.”

Ren could only nod feverishly, still too speechless for words. He looked back at the papers, and hugged him tight.

It took him several seconds to say something. “So… My name?”

Futaba slid in front of his vision, grinning the widest he’d ever seen her. “Your name is Ren Sakura. You’ve always been one of us, but now it’s official! Welcome to the family, brother!.”

\----------

Sae was pretty sure she was dreaming. That, or the apocalypse had finally happened.

She stood in the middle of the unnaturally deserted Shibuya crossing, spinning in circles while taking in the scenery. There wasn’t a single lit street lamp in sight, nor were the tv screens on. In fact, it looked like there weren’t  _ any _ electronics on. Instead, a full moon combined with the milky way stardust emanated plenty of light for her to see.

_ Wait… _

_ The Milky Way stardust? In Tokyo? _

Sae’s mind raced, trying to drum up an explanation.  _ Ok, think, Niijima. If you can see the sky so clearly, then there isn’t light pollution. But, a blackout in Tokyo wouldn’t be near enough to cause this big a difference, even if the entire city went out. So, is it Japan? The world? _

The last she remembered, she was put to sleep by Ren. Or, at least, she thought it was Ren, but his voice was different than normal. It must have been the Lavenza girl he briefed them all about the morning they received their powers back.

_ Right. That narrows down things. So, either I’m dreaming, or I was forced to sleep for so long society as a whole was destroyed. But even then, all the buildings are pristine. Not a single broken window, or hint of weeds between the concrete, or anything else that would give a hint towards that outcome. _

Reaching the conclusion that she was dreaming, Sae breathed a sigh of relief. At least the world hadn’t ended. However, that didn’t solve the other problems.

This dream felt disturbingly real, for one. She pinched herself, grunting when she felt it. How could she feel this much in a dream?

The other problem was that she believed she was undergoing a change of heart. But one thing was amiss in that department: Leviathan had gone completely silent.

_ So… If I’m not dreaming, and I’m not hearing my shadow, then… what does this mean? _

**“It means you’re stuck in here with me.”**

Sae went wide-eyed and spun around to face the voice coming from the entrance to central street.

Leviathan strode out from the shadows, a wicked smile on her face. Sae had heard from Makoto that her shadow once wore a revealing black dress, but instead she was wearing the exact same outfit as her. In fact, it was almost a complete carbon copy, down to the small chip on her fingernail polish she gained yesterday.

The only thing different were piercing yellow eyes that seemed to stare straight through her. And as intimidating as somebody might be seeing it, Sae Niijima was a Niijima. She was the unparalleled master of menacing glares, and the mastery went both ways.

As the defense attorney stared down her shadow, she raised her voice so the entirety of the square could hear her, despite only one other entity in attendance.

“Where am I? What have you done with Tokyo? Or is it the whole world?”

Leviathan laughed fully, a chilling sound that made Sae shiver. Her voice was like silk, except it was probably also laced with a poisonous venom.  **“Isn’t it clear? We’re in Shibuya, in Tokyo. Although, I was not expecting for you to show up here yourself, I will give you that.”**

So, this was some kind of place Leviathan thought she wouldn’t encounter her? Perhaps it was…

“Is this the Metaverse?”

Her question was met with a sneer.  **“If it was, why would I tell you?”**

“That depends. Do you have a reason to hide anything from me?”

Leviathan ignored her question.  **“Why do you think that to begin with? Both me hiding something from you, and whether this is the Metaverse or not.”**

Sae chewed on her lip, digesting her other self’s words carefully.

It was strange. The voice in her head before, and the one in front of her are unmistakably the same. The person in her head is who’s standing before her. However, their speech patterns were different. In her head, Leviathan was harsh, demanding, and controlling. Now, she seemed almost… frustrated. Maybe even cautious. But she definitely wasn’t hostile, and seemed to be willing to negotiate. Sae wasn’t sure what had triggered the change in mood, but she wasn’t going to push her luck by asking.

“Because Ren said that the Metaverse was not fully separated from the real world. That would entail part of it exists elsewhere. Is that what this place is?”

Leviathan pinched the bridge of her nose.  **“Call it what you like, but we are one and the same. If you do not know, then how should I?”**

“So, why lie blatantly when you don’t have all the facts?”

**“I think you can answer that question,** **_prosecutor_ ** **. Besides, I have no reason to tell you the truth.”**

Sae grit her teeth. “That’s impossible. I haven’t done anything of the sort since then. I care much more about honesty and doing what’s right.  _ That _ is true justice.”

Her shadow smiled low, chuckling.  **“Even if that is the case, you still have these feelings within you. That’s why I exist.”**

“So, you’re the feelings that I’m repressing?”

**“Sure, we can go with that.”**

“Well, what feelings are they?”

Leviathan visibly recoiled, as if a horrible insult had been yelled at her.  **“You’re asking me? Why?”**

Sae responded with a rare shrug. “So I can fix these feelings. I told Makoto I would do whatever it takes to become a better person, and by extension, make her happy.”

**“Yet she is the source of our anger, our fury. She refuses to do something about that… that whore who Ren is cheating with! She has to go!”**

It all clicked for Sae. And now that she finally heard what was being said from somebody who physically wasn’t her, it hit hard.

“I admit, it’s a very rare situation that differs from the norm. Society as a whole would disapprove of it.”

Leviathan nodded her head.  **“You understand! Now, you know what we must do. We-”**

Sae held up a hand to interrupt her double. “I wasn’t finished. However, even if society disapproves… It… It doesn’t matter. It  _ shouldn’t  _ matter. Isn’t that what being a Phantom Thief is all about? Rejecting society in favor of blazing your own path?”

Her shadow stared at her, unblinking. Meanwhile, Sae let her words flow. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say before it came out of her mouth, but she knew she had to say it. She was reaching something important.

“Isn’t that why I quit being a prosecutor? Even if being a defense attorney doesn’t yield me as high a success rate, the cases I do settle in my favor are infinitely more gratifying. It’s protecting people from a corrupt system.” At this point, Sae wasn’t sure if she was talking to her shadow or herself more. Regardless, she knew that she was heading towards some sort of conclusion.

**“Your point?”** Leviathan asked, growling.

“My point is that I’m also guilty of shunning society’s norm. If I stayed at the SIU following the conspiracy’s demise, I would have become the director. I would have been set for life. However, I threw it all away to pursue what I thought would be more fulfilling. I may not make as much money or be looked upon favorably as I could be if I were director, but I’m happy. But not only that, Makoto was happy, too. She supported me, cheered me on, wished me the best…”

_ Oh. _

Leviathan opened her mouth to speak, but Sae once again interrupted her. She was on a roll, and wasn’t going to be cut off now. “...That’s exactly what the problem is! So what if what I believe will make Makoto happy isn’t what she thinks will make her happy? If she’s happy having Suzui around, then I should support it. I clearly don’t know how to guarantee her happiness, but she has a far better grip on it than I do. And if that’s what she wants, then... I should be standing by her, smiling.”

The shadow’s face was unreadable, but she started walking towards her counterpart.  **“You’re willing to allow Makoto to take the lead, to ensure her own happiness?”**

Sae strode up to meet Leviathan face-to-face, smiling. “I do. The best way to ensure Makoto’s happiness is to let her reach it herself, while doing all I can to be the best sister possible.”

**“And what about our opinion on Suzui?”**

Sae sighed, putting a hand on her opposite shoulder. “I may not be particularly thrilled, but... that’s ok. I’m sure I’ll adjust in time. It’s a little tough to do so, but I have to face that the true way to Makoto’s happiness is likely out of my hands, and maybe even with Suzui. But I won’t let it control me anymore.. And I’ll do my best for them all, for Makoto, Ren, Suzui, and everyone else.”

Leviathan smiled at her. A true smile, one that was void of any unease, or hostility, or anger.  **“So, you will accept me? You will accept that Makoto’s happiness is not your own to determine?”**

Sae’s smile back at her other self was just as radiant. “Of course. My actions were wrong, but my feelings were in the right place. I just want Makoto to be happy. I may not have the answer to that, but I’ll find it with Makoto. Together.”

Leviathan didn’t reply, instead backing away, keeping her head focused on the night sky. Sae watched in wonder as her shadow began to glow brightly, causing her to shield her eyes. As the glow subsided, Sae looked back up to not see her shadow, but instead a floating, mythical figure in its place.

A tall female figure sat on thin air, one leg crossed over the other. A solid black robe covered in purple adornments clothed her down to her knees, with long pitch black extended sandals with fancy patterns reaching up from her feet all the way to meet her robes. A quick look made Sae realize that she didn’t actually have tangible feet or legs, or any sort of limb, but instead what looked to be some sort of light force. It pulsated and glowed brightly, contained within the sandals, swirling around violently. Her arms also were made of the light force, with black lace gloves reaching all the way up her arm to where they met her toga. A closer look made Sae realize that the light force was attempting to bleed through, but the lace of the gloves and sandals held it in place somewhat. In one hand, she held a spear of stained red glass, the conical tip swirling with more light energy. Perched in her other outstretched hand was an owl that was made of brown stained glass. Its head moved in quirky movements, red rubies for eyes gazing down on the attorney. Its veins were visible from inside the glass, and within it was the light force that also composed the rest of the figure.

Sae finally looked up to the figure’s head, only to realize she didn’t actually have one. In its place was a halo of solid gold olive branches looking back down at her. Unlike a normal halo, which would run parallel to the ground while hovering over a head, this one was perpendicular with the ground, almost as if it acted as the figure’s face. Miniature white marble wings protruded from the shoulders of the figure like shoulder pads. And finally, the halo itself was surrounded by a tall collar of black fabric, ensuring the halo would stand out as the figure’s face.

Sae had never seen this figure before, but she already knew her name.

“Minerva.”

\----------

“Ok, now that everyone is… physically here,” Makoto glanced to the sleeping form of her sister in a booth, “And we shared the news of Ren’s official adoption, we can begin.”

“Can you just cut to the chase and tell us what’s goin’ on? It’s been killin’ me all afternoon!” Ryuji said, exasperated, as he sat in another booth next to Ann.

Makoto glared at Ryuji, who shrunk back a little. “I was planning on it; I want to discuss this immediately as well. The long and short of it is… we’ve been found out, and I was fired from the police force today by the corrupt commissioner.”

Everyone except for the group that was in Leblanc for Ren’s adoption wasn’t up to speed, and their shocked, speechless faces tore at Makoto’s gut.

Nobody else spoke, so Makoto forged onward as she brought a folded-up piece of paper out of her bag. With a sigh, she tossed it down on the table of the booth they were gathered around. “He gave me this paper. It’s essentially a declaration of war, except they’re giving us time to prepare. 

“Time to prepare? What sort of scheme are our adversaries planning?” Yusuke eyed the paper cautiously, as if it could explode at any second.”

“They want to turn this into some sort of game. Read it.” She growled, her eyes burning into the paper.

Carefully, Ann reached forward, opened the paper, and began to read aloud.

_ “To the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, _

_ You were unwise to fight back against my rightful revenge and the future that I have in store for you. As a result, your meddling in my nightclub will be the last time you ever have the taste of freedom. My allies and I will be utilizing all of our resources to find, capture, humiliate, and kill all of you without hesitation. You have one week from today to prepare however you wish. Those who are subjected to the game are as follows: _

  * _Makoto Niijima_


  * Sae Niijima


  * Futaba Sakura


  * Yusuke Kitagawa


  * Ryuji Sakamoto


  * Ann Takamaki


  * Haru Okumura


  * Shiho Suzui


  * And of course, Ren Amamiya”



Ann took a pause in her reading, which Futaba took as an opportunity to lighten the mood. “Ren Amamiya? Who’s that?”

Ren cracked a weak smile more out of courtesy rather than actual happiness, and scratched Futaba’s head lovingly, shushing her as Ann continued.

_ “We are honorous people - we will not go after your allies outside of the Phantom Thieves. After all, they cannot be charged with the cold-blooded murder of three nightclub security guards, and we need to make this look real.  _ (Ren noticed Haru visibly winced at that.) _ Please don’t disappoint me, Phantom Thieves; I have waited far too long to place our game in motion, and I want my entertainment. _

_ Signed, an old friend.” _

Ann finished and placed the paper back in front of her, staring blankly at it. In fact, everybody in the cafe shared the same expression for a few minutes.

Makoto was very hesitant to break the silence, but she did nonetheless. “I wonder who this ‘old friend’ is… Maybe it’s an enemy of ours from back then?”

Her quiet voice sounded as loud as a truck horn in that silent cafe, even making Haru jump a little. “I-It could be possible, Mako-chan… Is it maybe Shido? Akechi?”

Morgana, who was in Haru’s lap, shook his head. “Shido had a successful change of heart - he would be completely unable to do something like this. His conscience is incapable of despicable acts. As for Akechi… He’s been missing or dead for 6 years. I doubt it, but we can’t completely rule him out.”

“Then, could it perhaps be a remnant of Shido’s conspiracy who slipped through the justice system?” Yusuke offered.

“I doubt it.” Makoto began, hands on her hips. “The police force actually did a good job rounding up all the conspiracy members who had any sort of power.”

“Forgive me for interjecting here,” Sojiro paused briefly from behind the counter as everybody looked at him. “But last time you all were here, you mentioned this enemy of yours could be anybody, right?”

“Shit, Sojiro’s right…” Futaba murmured. “This could be any ordinary trash mob who somehow got their hands on Metaverse powers and also doesn’t like us, and it looks like they can target anybody.”

“That’s true… They even got their hands on Sae-san.” Haru sighed. “But wait, would that also mean…?”

Slowly, all eyes turned to look at Shiho, who fidgeted uncomfortably from all the looks. “U-Um, I’ll let you all know the second I feel off, or hear a voice talking in my head. At least we’d have a week's warning, right?”

Ann chewed on her lip, fighting back tears. “Shiho…”

Shiho did her best to put on a smile, waving her hand dismissively. “It’ll be ok, Ann. We’ll take care of it.” She moved on, tackling another topic. “That being said, I’m a little surprised to see I’m on that list.”

“I mentioned it to Ren earlier, but I think it’s because they included everyone who was seen on security camera footage at Paradise.” Makoto said, a hand on her arm. “I’m really sorry, Shiho, but it looks like you’ve been forced into business that isn’t yours. We’ll do all we can to keep you safe.”

“Actually, about that…” Ren interjected before Shiho could respond, “Shiho actually asked earlier today if she could join the Phantom Thieves. I promised her I’d bring it up in the next meeting so we could put it to a vote, but…”

“She doesn’t really have a choice at this point, even if she didn’t want to join.” Morgana hopped out of Haru’s lap, standing on the table in the middle. “Shiho’s willing, capable, and a much-needed member to add to our ranks. But rules are rules. Are there any objections to this?”

Silence.

Ren shared a look with Makoto, the two grinning. “Then, Shiho, I’d like to formally welcome you to the family of the Phantom Thieves.”

\----------

**“It’s been a very long time coming, dear.”**

Minerva’s voice was smooth on Sae’s ears - much softer than the harsher tones her shadow used.

The sight was so otherworldly, Sae forgot everything else around her. “W-What are you? How do I know your name?”

**“I am thou, and thou art I. I am the true form of the soul that dwells within you. With me, you will no longer be led astray, but rather follow the path of true justice and unwavering happiness. Use that justice and my strength to protect those you love, while you crush those who stand in your way.”**

“The soul that dwells within me…” Sae repeated back softly, before coming to a realization. “Are you a… persona?”

**“I am** **_your_ ** **persona, dear. All hearts are unique, and the forms they take will follow suit.”**

Sae stored the information away for later. Right now, there were more pressing issues. “Does that mean Leviathan no longer exists?”

**“Yes and no. I am Leviathan, but I am also not.”**

Sae rubbed her temples, sighing. “That’s not confusing at all… Minerva, do you retain her memories?”

**“I do.”**

“Then can you tell me where the hell we are?” Sae directed her attention to the abandoned, yet pristine city around her, hoping to find any sort of escape route.

Minerva spread her arms wide in grandiose fashion.  **“This, dear, is Shadow Tokyo.”**

\----------

As the Thieves planned out their week of preparation, quit their jobs, and called contacts to ensure a food company will still be run in her absence, Ren felt a sudden disturbance in his head.

Arsene felt it too, resurfacing for the first time in a while to speak up.  **Did you feel that, Trickster?**

_ Yeah, I did. The judgement arcana… _

He cast a quick glance at Sae’s sleeping form.  _ I can feel it changing subtly, but I can’t really place what that change means. Do you have any ideas, Arsene? _

Ren could hear his other self chuckle knowingly.  **I may have an inkling. Your Velvet Room attendant’s magic may have been very beneficial to our persona-less ally.**

_ Oh? How so? That would be good news. _

**You will see soon, Trickster.**

\----------

“Shadow… Tokyo?” Sae repeated back at Minerva. “So, is this part of the Metaverse?”

**“It is what remains of it, my dear. The half that was separated from your world, when it was reborn. It is incomplete; a fraction of its former self. It warps, changes, and functions however it pleases.”**

“But it did come from the Metaverse originally?” Sae asked. And at Minerva’s confirming nod - which was just a tilt in the olive branch halo - a smile lit up on her face. “This is excellent news! We now have evidence that some facet of the Metaverse still exists!”

**“Indeed, this will be of great help to our investigation. However, there is much to learn about this place. It is no longer the Metaverse your comrades are familiar with. But for now, we must reach somewhere safe. As it stands right now, we cannot remain here for long.”**

With that, Minerva disappeared into thin air, much to Sae’s initial horror. It was quelled immediately when she felt something within her soul, taking its seat. Sae instinctively knew it was Minerva, and for the first time in her life, Sae felt completely, utterly,  _ whole. _

“But where do we go? How do we get out of here?”

This time, Minerva’s voice came from within Sae’s head. 

**Allow me, dear.**

\----------

“...and you’re sure it’ll be safe enough to go through with it?”

“It’s the only clear option we have, unless Futaba can subtly poke around the dark web to get something nicer. We shouldn’t be too picky, though, and I’d rather do this without online interactions. It becomes traceable.”

Sae’s hearing came back before her sight did, taking in the tail end of a conversation as her eyes opened groggily.

“Minerva…?” She muttered under her breath, reaching her hands up to rub her eyes.

**I am always with you. Should you need to speak with me, just call my name.**

As she brought her hands down from her eyes, Sae noticed that all the Thieves had been staring at her.

“Sis! You’re… awake. Earlier than expected, too... How do you feel?” Makoto asked cautiously, but Sae didn’t miss the guarded look in her eyes.

“I feel… Amazing, actually. The best I’ve ever felt in a long time.”

The thieves exchanged glances.

“Do you feel mentally exhausted, too?” Morgana asked, tail swishing back and forth.

Sae cocked her head to the side in thought. Even if she felt the best she’s been in forever, there was an unmistakable headache pounding in her skull. “Yes, and I have this throbbing headache… Perhaps it was a side effect...?”

To her surprise, Ren grinned at the news. “Well, this is a serious breakthrough. Let me just ask you one question. Who is Minerva - that name you just mentioned?”

She realized that Ren had caught onto what happened to her, which caused Sae to smile back triumphantly. She had conquered her literal inner demon, and came out the other side unharmed, stronger than ever.

“My persona.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet nobody expected all these plot twists!
> 
> I hope I did Sae's awakening justice (pun not intended). It's not a traditional P5 one; I instead opted for the Futaba/P4 formula. Either way, I really like the design I thought of for Minerva. If I had any artistic talent I'd draw her so people could get a visual, but I've got absolutely zero drawing talent >.> So unless somebody wants to do fan art (pls I'd love you forever), the description will have to do!
> 
> That aside, I'm actually having thoughts of removing my posting schedule. Not to say I'm being absolutely swamped in TWaM (because I'm not, and I enjoy writing it), but I want to work on other things. I have an idea for a new fic that won't be set in the TWaM universe, but will instead be a fun collection of lighthearted one-shot stories surrounding a specific theme/gimmick! But I already have my hands full with Broken Souls on top of the weekly post for TWaM. If I'm going to pursue writing other things, I'll need to let up from the weekly posting. That, or the chapters become shorter. While it's an option (and it's what I used to do in the early chapters), I've gotten pretty fond of the longer ones. Short chapters end before you can really get into them, you know?
> 
> Anywho, lots to digest here, but regardless, I love this fic and will continue to write it for as long as I write! Next chapter we dive into the PT's week of prep, so stay tuned!


	26. Divide and Conquer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this one is later than usual, it's been a busy day for me. Anywho, enjoy!

It took two days for Haru to get the energy to leave her room after the meeting in Leblanc.

It didn’t help that the floof wasn’t answering any texts or calls. She even didn’t make an appearance when Ren himself visited her in person a day after the meeting. Instead, he opted to leave Morgana, who snuck into the estate, found his way to Haru’s window, and proceeded to knock on it until he was let in.

Haru hardly said a word to Morgana, despite his prodding. Eventually, he decided to just curl up next to her, waiting for the time she would be able to speak her mind.

The next day, the heiress finally spoke to her companion.

“Why are you here, Mona-chan?”

The question caught Morgana off-guard, his head recoiling slightly. “Why? Cuz we’re worried about you! You haven’t been in the group chats, nor have you been answering calls. We had to resort to me showing up unannounced, and even then, it took a day for you to even say something to me. What’s going on?”

He came off a bit harsher than he would have liked, but Haru didn’t seem to notice, her gaze on a wall as she sat upright in bed. “It’s my fault, Mona-chan. If I hadn’t lost control, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now…”

One part of him wanted to take the direct approach and agree, then downplay the severity of the consequences. However, the other part of him knew better. The tough approach wasn’t exactly something to use on a depressed individual - and that was speaking from his own experiences of being on both ends.

“This... was going to happen sooner or later, Haru.” He began, choosing each word cautiously. “It was said in the letter addressed to us. If anything, our actions bought us time and protection.”

Haru didn’t say anything at first, and Morgana began to think that he was making some leeway already. The hopes fell, however, when Haru finally spoke up.

“The calling card might have, but me _murdering_ three people certainly did not!” She spat at him, glaring. “If it weren’t for my actions, we would have had a clean slate. With us not having committed a crime, there would not be any grounds to be arrested on.”

Morgana sat on his hind legs, holding Haru’s stare but doing his best to prevent his own from becoming cold. “We don’t have a clean slate, Haru. Police records just don’t go away. Makoto told me that the police station still has a file on the Phantom Thieves, and while it’s gone cold until now, there’s still plenty of charges for all of us to be arrested. What you did doesn’t have any effect on our situation now.”

“But how will the public react to the Phantom Thieves murdering three people?” Haru bounced back, but there was hesitation in her voice.

Morgana took that as a cue she was relenting a little, so he pressed onward. “I… honestly don’t have a good answer to that.” He admitted. “But the Phantom Thieves weren’t always popular back when we were stealing hearts. It’s not something we’re not used to.”

Haru went silent at that.

Unperturbed, Morgana carried on. “I’m not saying what you did was exactly a good thing, but I don’t think our circumstances would be any different. We’d still be searching for a hideout.”

“...Ren said he would have done the same thing.”

It came out as a whisper, but it still caught Morgana off-guard all the same. “He said what? He would have done the same thing?”

Haru shuffled out of her bed and stood up, looking at the cat. “He told me I was justified. He would have done the exact same thing that I did. Those men could have killed any of us, or could have done more bad things in the future.”

Morgana’s mouth hung open, his eyes unblinking. “He… justified your… actions?”

She nodded her head. “Any of those three could have killed us. Ren helped me realize I was just protecting our family.”

The cat had no words to say. But he did know he was going to have a serious chat with Ren about this as soon as possible.

“S-So… Why are you so depressed?” He finally asked directly, cautious of what the real reason could be.

“I thought that my actions condemned us to this fate, but I appreciate you helping me realize that wasn’t entirely the case.” She said with a small smile.

This time, Morgana was truly lost for words. _How does the fact that she took 3 lives not bother her at all anymore? Does she trust Ren’s judgement that much?_

Eventually, Haru broke the silence brewing between them. “Thank you for speaking with me, Mona-chan. I think I will go tend to some plants in the garden in a way to cheer myself up. Would you like to join me?

Morgana stood up, stretching. He’d have to get to the bottom of Haru’s mindset later. For now, he had other things to take care of. “Sounds like a good way to raise your proficiency! But before that, can you please call Ren? He needs some funds to make a purchase. The sooner, the better.”

“Oh, sure thing.” She replied, grabbing her phone to check her messages for the first time in days. She winced when she saw the sheer number of messages that she missed, easily passing 100 or so, and that was just in the Phantom Thieves group chat. She had several missed calls and text messages from Ren, asking her to respond as soon as she could.

Dialing his number, she didn’t even finish bringing her phone up to her ear before he picked up. _“Haru! I really need your help right now.”_

“Of course, Ren-kun. I apologize for not getting to you sooner…” She said without her usual grace.

_“It’s fine. Do you think you can make a discreet transfer to an account that Futaba rigged up? We found a possible hideout, but I need some money to sweeten the deal. Iwai can’t seal it on favors alone.”_

“Oh! A deal with the yakuza? That sounds so exciting! I’ll be sure to send the funds over as soon as I receive the account information. I trust Futaba-chan will be able to cover my tracks?”

_“Do I love Makoto?”_

“Splendid! I will go through with the transfer as soon as possible. Is there anything else, Ren-kun?”

_“That’s it for now, but I’ll let you know if we need anything more from your front. Oh, and Haru… It’s nice to hear you up and about again. Send a message to the group chat; everyone will be happy to see you in it.”_

“Will do, Ren-kun. Talk to you later!”

With a new resolve, Haru set down her phone, and went to her closet to put on some clothes she didn’t mind getting dirty in the garden.

\----------

“So… This is it? I coulda found something a lot nicer than this...” Futaba’s voice was full of unease as she stared at the sight in front of her.

“Maybe we’ll upgrade one day, then. But for now, this is safest.” Came Ren’s serious reply.

Four days after their week-long countdown began, the two now official siblings stood outside of a run-down, abandoned bar/bowling alley in one of the seediest areas of Tokyo. It had taken some major string pulling, but Ren convinced Iwai to dip back into his old contacts in the Yakuza to find a hidden away safehouse that very few knew about, and even fewer knew where it was. According to the once-yakuza, they used it to hide very high-profile people who had pissed off a rival clan one too many times. With the location never discovered by rival clans and hidden from almost all of Iwai’s own clan, the place became lost to time.

Futaba sighed, gripping onto Ren’s hand tightly. “I can’t believe this is happening to us… We’re the good guys! Why do we gotta hide away like this?”

Ren squeezed her hand as he used his own free hand to fumble for the key given to him in his pocket. “I wish I could give you a concrete answer, Futaba. But… I can’t. I really can’t.” He said, uncharacteristically somber.

And it was true. As much as his friends, girlfriend, and new family put him on a pedestal, he didn’t know much more than they did. These past turns of events were as chaotic, troubling, and very out of his league as it was for everyone else. The last thing he wanted to do to Futaba was make an empty promise. One that he knew for a fact he probably would not be able to keep.

Futaba didn’t respond, instead just watching Ren unlock the door to the abandoned bar. Before opening the door, he looked back to his sister, nodding. “Remember what I taught you, and remember the plan?”

She nodded, pushing her feelings out in favor of determination as her hand brushed over something on her hip: a hidden holster for the gun - a real one - she now carried with her. “Mhm. Stay behind you, always check your corners first, and keep my finger off the trigger unless I’m actually going to shoot. We’re gonna go in, make sure it’s clear, and decide if we want to take the place or not. And then, we go home to your curry to celebrate. Quest complete.”

Even though he was thankful Futaba was taking things very seriously, it was still off-putting to see her like this. Ren sighed and smiled, squeezing Futaba’s hand one last time before reaching for his own gun in its holster. “That last part wasn’t in the original plan, but we can squeeze it in.”

WIthout another word, Ren swung open the door while brandishing his pistol in one fluid motion. The siblings pushed into the room as quickly as possible and shut the door behind them to ensure they wouldn’t be seen entering. With buildings on either side and no windows in the entrance, the duo were plunged into pitch black once the door shut.

Ren inwardly cursed and reached for his phone, activating the flashlight widget while Futaba did the same. As he moved further into the room, the redhead searched for a lightswitch.

“Ugh, I’m gonna choke from all the dust in here…” Futaba grumbled as she moved her flashlight along the wall, eventually finding a switch next to an entry point to the bar. “Ah, here we go! Let there be light!”

Flicking the switch, the younger Sakura turned to see… not what she expected.

The bar was actually in perfect condition, except for numerous cobwebs and a thick layer of dust over every possible surface. The bar room was long and skinny, with a counter taking up the majority of the overall cramped space. Several high tables with stools sat opposite the bar, creating a narrow aisle down the middle of the space.

“Wow, it really was just flat out abandoned…” Ren said to nobody in particular as he took in the sight of their possible new home.

“I was thinking we’d be walking into a tornado site, honestly. There won’t be much cleaning to do here. All we need is like, 4 vacuum cleaners to get all this dust and cobwebs. Eugh!” Futaba shivered as she accidentally walked through a cobweb, her arms flailing around in a blind frenzy.

Ren chuckled at the sight before looking over the bar itself. “It’s got some pretty classy detail… And even behind the counter looks nice. I wonder what sort of history is behind this place.”

“I feel ya. This looks as if Leblanc sold booze instead of coffee! Do ya see it, too?”

“...Actually, I could see it. But enough of that, we need to continue on. There should be another door in the back…”

The leader made his way to the back of the establishment, peeking down a hallway that was on the far end of the room. He noticed bathrooms for both men and ladies, and a third, unmarked door with a keypad on it.

“That must be it.” He said to himself before calling out behind his shoulder. “Futaba! On me, please!”

As he put in the 10 digit passcode in the elaborate lock, Futaba came bounding up behind him. “Is that the bowling alley entrance?”

Ren finished typing in the code, and the door cracked open. Before opening it fully, he turned back to his younger sister. “Yeah. Originally there wasn’t a lock here, but it was installed once the bar shut down and the place became a hideout. Iwai says part of the bowling alley is a shooting range now.”

Futaba’s face lit up. “Really? We can practice our aim there, then!”

She meant for it to be uplifting, but it had the opposite effect on Ren. She cocked her head to the side, pouting. “What?”

It took a few seconds for him to speak up, but not before letting out a heavy sigh. “I just wish we never had to end up in a situation where I think you practicing shooting a gun is advisable.” Ren shook his head, ridding him of his thoughts while turning back to the task at hand. “Now, I imagine this place is abandoned too, but we need to be cautious. Ready?”

Futaba’s hand moved down to her hip, unholstering her pistol and holding it in both her hands, the barrel pointed to the floor. “I’m ready.”

Ren nodded back to her, drew his own pistol, and flung the door open.

\----------

“Let’s see… Futaba said that the store should be this way…”

Makoto and Sae stuck close together as they walked through one of the more deserted streets in Akihabara, looking for a particular store that Futaba explicitly told them to seek out. Apparently the store had a very specific set of equipment she wanted, and she asked someone to go out and get it for her while she worked on Haru’s bank transfer.

Despite volunteering to run the errand together, the Niijima sisters hadn’t talked much since Sae’s awakening. Aside from the fact that Minerva was Sae’s persona, and the reverse change of heart seemed to have been cancelled out, Sae kept her cards close to the chest. Makoto suspected there was more at play, but when pressed Sae merely said that this week of preparation was much more important - find a safe hideout, finish all their prep work, and then she would gladly spill the beans.

Still, that didn’t prevent the ex-cop from attempting to get a sneak peek. “So, Minerva… What’s she like?” She asked awkwardly as the two turned a corner down an alley.

Fortunately, Sae seemed to be very receptive to conversation. “I honestly don’t know how to describe her. She looked like some sort of angel of justice, but she was made of… pure light force? She had a halo for a head, as well.”

“That force was probably holy magic.” Makoto confirmed. “Sounds like your persona is a holy-type. Which we actually don’t have a native holy magic user, so that works out quite well.”

“Holy type? So what exactly does that mean?” Sae asked, glancing down at her phone. “We’ll take the next right here.”

“There’s many different types of magic in the Metaverse. It doesn’t matter too much since we can’t use our personas anymore, but each one of us had our own element. For example, Ren’s true persona utilizes dark magic. I utilize nuclear magic. Morgana could control the wind.”

“Incredible… So, I would theoretically have some sort of holy magic?”

Makoto found herself giggling. “Mhm. It would suit you, too. There’s a spell called ‘Divine Judgement’.”

Sae scoffed. “Divine Judgement, huh…”

“Sis?”

The elder Niijima sighed, stopping to give her full attention to Makoto. “I don’t personally think I’m worthy of having some sort of power that lets me deal out divine judgement. Not that I don’t accept all my parts of me, but I feel awful for what I said to you the other day.”

Sae expected Makoto to come down harshly on her, so she was surprised when she was met with a soft smile. “It’s part of the contract. Getting a persona opens your eyes to a lot of things, and one of them is your past mistakes. But if you’re going to apologize to anybody, it needs to be Shiho. You accepting your shadow and obtaining your persona is enough of an apology for me, but you need to properly apologize to her.”

“I understand. I’ll be sure to do so as soon as we get all of this figured out.” Sae promised, then looked down at her phone. “By the way, we’ve arrived. It’s that store over there, with the blue awning.”

The two looked across the street to see a very discreet hole in the wall with a small sign overhead calling it ‘The Geek Pit.’ The single window to the store housed a bunch of different video games, anime figurines, and other otaku products. Makoto wrinkled her nose.

“That’s a bit of an… unflattering name. And do you see any security equipment in the display?”

Sae shook her head. “No. But this is definitely the place Futaba told us to go to, or at least it’s the address that she sent me.”

They walked into the small store to find anything but security equipment. True to the front display, the store was stocked with videogames and otaku merchandise, but nothing else. Makoto sighed as she stepped around a life-size figure of the pink Neo Fetherman. “I hope you’re right. Of all the weeks we could be wasting time, this is not the one.”

She heard a door opening towards the back of the store, and saw the shopkeep step out to the counter, blinking. “Uh, hello…”

Sae rolled her eyes at the obvious situation of him not expecting two pretty girls to walk into his small shop. “Where’s your security equipment?”

The store owner shifted uncomfortably. “Security equipment? I don’t carry any, sorry. There’s a store in-”

Sae slammed her hands down on the counter, making the owner jump. “Do _not_ waste our time. We know you have equipment.”

Makoto pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sis, ease up on him, it’s not an interrogation…”

Sae looked at Makoto while throwing a hand in the store owner’s direction. “I would, but we’re under a very tight schedule and I do not want to be sent on a wild goose chase! Maybe Alibaba was wrong with the intel…”

“Wait. You two know Alibaba?”

The Niijimas turned to the owner in surprise.

“Yes, we do. Why?” Makoto said warily, narrowing her eyes.

“Were they the one who asked for the security system?”

Sae and Makoto exchanged looks, Makoto giving her sister a nod. Sae sighed annoyedly. “If you must know, yes, they did. Do you have it or not?”

This time, he nodded his head. “I do. Alibaba mentioned somebody would be coming by to pick up security equipment, but I didn’t expect… Um…”

Makoto found herself smirking. “You didn’t expect two gorgeous women to be friends with a world-class hacker?” Next to her, Sae was chuckling.

The store owner’s face turned a bright red. “I-I’m just going to grab their order, I’ll be right back…”

Several minutes later, the girls were walking out with a very expensive-looking security system in a box that the two would have had to lift together were it not for Makoto’s Metaverse strength. It wasn’t too big a box, but it was dense.

As Makoto pushed the box into the back of Sae’s car, she tilted her head to the side. “Say, sis, you didn’t try lifting this box, did you?”

Sae stopped herself from stepping into the driver’s seat of her car. “No, you offered since you have that strength. Why do you ask?”

“Well, if you have a persona now…”

Sae’s eyes lit up. “I see! Then, allow me to try.”

She moved to the back of the car, wrapped her arms around the box, and pulled up with all her might. To her surprise, the box weighed practically nothing in her hands, all the excess force she put into lifting the box up careening it into the ceiling of the car with a thud.

“W-Woah! So it does seem I have a heightened physical prowess…” She said unblinkingly at the box, as if it was actually empty in some form of a prank.

Makoto giggled at the scene. “If you think that was interesting, imagine what I was thinking when Morgana lifted a box 10 times his size. Maybe we’ll get him to show you!”

“Perhaps. But we should really be off. We can have our fun and games once the week is up.”

“I agree.” Makoto nodded, turning back to a more serious tone. “And hopefully, if Futaba and Ren’s recon goes well, we’ll have a new home by the end of the day.”

Sae looked at the security equipment that she would soon heavily depend on to keep her safe for God knows how long. “Hopefully.”

\----------

Ann and Shiho couldn’t help but shiver as they stared down the front gate of Shujin Academy.

The two girls along with Yusuke and Ryuji were given the important task of warning all of Ren’s previous confidants about the impending manhunt. Even if their unknown enemy had explicitly said they will not go after non-Phantom Thieves, nobody actually trusted the statement. Shiho asked to pair up with Ann so the two of them could spend some time together, and the two groups split the list of Ren’s confidants that needed to be talked to. And while nobody wanted to go back to Shujin, it had to be done to warn Kawakami. The girls just happened to draw the short straw - literally.

That wasn’t to say Ann didn’t like her old homeroom teacher. She just didn’t like where she taught.

“Geez, it’s like going back in time… not great memories.” Ann muttered as students filed around the two, leaving school for the day.

“Yeah…” Shiho agreed softly while the pair made their way towards the faculty office. “Although, it wasn’t all bad. We met Ren here.”

Ann allowed a small smile to cross her face. “You’re right. And because of it, our lives are so much better. I guess all things considered, it was for the best, huh?”

It took several seconds for Shiho to say anything back to her. “I guess… But there were a lot of things I would have rather not had happened.”

Ann didn’t have a response to that. Instead, she opened the door to the faculty office, striding in without so much as a ‘pardon the interruption’.

The office itself was almost completely deserted, and Ann noticed Kawakami’s desk didn’t have her usual clutter on it. Looking around the room, her eyes met with another teacher’s.

“Takamaki-san? And... Suzui-san? What are you two doing here?”

“Oh, Chuno-sensei!” Ann was surprised at first, but of course the other teachers would still be here, too. “We’re looking for Kawakami-sensei. Do you know where she is?”

Chuno huffed, as if she was annoyed they asked. “The principal’s office. Still don’t know why they picked her…” Her voice trailed off into a low grumble, which caused Shiho and Ann to exchange looks.

Shiho opted to cut the conversation there. “Thank you, Chuno-sensei. Please excuse us.”

The pair walked across the hall to the principal’s office, but neither knocked on the door.

“Do you think she was called in for a meeting?” Ann asked, a finger on her chin. “Should we wait a bit for her to finish?”

Shiho’s eyes half-lidded. “You’re joking, right?”

Ann giggled. “Of course. Let’s be sure to congratulate her, too!” She knocked soundly on the door, and upon hearing a woman’s voice from within call out “come in!”, the two entered the office.

The office was largely the same as Ann remembered it, although she had only been in the principal’s office once or twice. And sitting at the desk behind a mountain of paperwork was Sadayo Kawakami.

The new principal’s eyes went wide once she recognized who was in her office. “Takamaki-san! And… Suzui-san?! What are you two doing here?”

“Kawakami-sensei, did you see the news?” Ann asked, getting straight to the point.

Kawakami narrowed her eyes in thought. “The news… Do you mean the Phantom Thieves business?”

At Ann’s nod in confirmation, she continued. “So it is true… He’s making his comeback? Although, if you’re here telling me... “ She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I had my suspicions, but now I can see they were true, Takamaki-san.”

Ann simply shrugged. “It should have been obvious from the start.”

Kawakami nodded in agreement, then looked to Shiho. “In hindsight, yes. Although, I didn’t expect Suzui-san to be a part of this.”

“I wasn’t, actually.” Shiho corrected. “Well, Ren and I went to the same school our 3rd year. We’ve been friends since, and because of that, I’ve been wrapped up into this.” She paused, but at seeing Kawakami’s angry glare, she quickly backpedaled. “Oh, don’t be mad at him! I got wrapped into it on my own will.”

“I see…” Kawakami muttered, then sighed. “Well, I appreciate knowing what’s going on, and it’s a treat for you two to visit me, but why come to see me in person about it?”

Ann dug into her bag as Shiho explained the situation. “We’re here to warn you. Somebody has declared war in secret against the Phantom Thieves, and they know all of our identities. So, we’re going to all of Ren’s close contacts during that time to let them know to be cautious.”

She looked over at Ann, who pulled out a small black box with a mess of cables coming out of it. “Plug your phone into this. It’ll shroud your phone so it can’t be tracked. That way, you should be safe from being followed via your GPS signal, and you can send text messages without worry of what’s in them.”

Kawakami blinked, then wordlessly found the correct cable for her phone and plugged it in. She set her phone on the desk, looking up at the two girls. “Do I even want to know how you got this device?”

Ann smirked. “Futaba made it.”

“Futaba-chan made it? Actually, that does make sense… She always seemed to be fumbling with some sort of technology when in class…” Kawakami thought aloud as she watched a progress bar move across her phone’s screen. “Is she also a… you know?”

Shiho nodded, which caused Kawakami to sigh again.

“You young kids are always fighting something… It’s not fair to you all. So this means I’ll be able to text Ren?”

“Yeah. He hasn’t responded to anybody who doesn’t have their phone shrouded.” Ann explained, then looked down at the phone which was now beeping. “Now that yours is, you can talk to us. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“I understand…” Kawakami unplugged her phone, looking at it as if it could explode at any second. “So, now what?”

“Now, we have to leave. We need to talk to two more people by the end of today.” Ann said while she put the black box back into her bag. “Sorry we can’t stay longer to catch up, but we’re really busy right now.”

“I don’t blame you for getting out of this dump anyways…” Kawakami muttered. “But any of you are always welcome in my office!”

The two girls smiled, Shiho reaching for the door while Ann gave her parting words to her past homeroom teacher. “Thanks! And with you as the principal, I’m sure Shujin will become a better place.”

"Hey, you two…" Kawakami called out just as both girls had stepped into the door frame, but they turned around to look at her. "You're both… doing better, right? I know high school was not kind to you, but I hope the years after that have been better. All of you deserve it."

Shiho and Ann exchanged glances, before Ann spoke up for the both of them. "Yeah. We're both doing a lot better and we're all happy, despite the circumstances. But we really need to go now, we have several more people to visit by the end of today. See you later, and keep in touch!"

The door closed behind them, and Kawakami slumped in her chair.

“Those kids never catch a break…”

\----------

“Clear!”

“C-Clear!”

Ren finally let his shoulders droop, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. “That’s everything. We’re in the clear, Futaba. Pun not intended.”

Futaba popped her head back out of a room, holstering her weapon. “Thank God! That took forever! I wish I was still able to sense stuff, I could have cleared this entire building in a second.”

“As much as I’d love for that to happen, you know that’s an impossibility.” Ren replied, leaning on the wall of the hallway they were currently in. “By the way, did you find somewhere you’d like to set up all your equipment?”

The hacker nodded as she walked out of the hallway into the main bowling alley room, pointing towards a door in the corner. “That looks like it was some sort of computer room before. It had tons of outlets and stuff, so it could be a good place for me to put both my rig and all the camera equipment Sae ‘n Makoto are getting right now.”

Ren nodded in agreement, following after her, as he took in the rest of the area. In all actuality, this bowling alley turned hideout/shooting range was more than they could ever ask for. The yakuza must have liked to keep their high profile clients in comfort when they were forced into hiding, because this space wasn’t only fully furnished, but nicer than his current apartment he shared with Makoto. The back rooms had been converted into bedrooms, and there were enough for all the couples and singles to have their own plus a couple of spares. A fully-furnished and updated kitchen was in the place of what must have been the old kitchen for the bowling alley. Two of the 6 bowling lanes seemed to have been rooted up, a very lavish living area in its place, complete with TVs, a wet bar, and other amenities. The other 4 lanes were walled off and separate, having been converted into a shooting range. And to the pair’s surprise, they found that the range was fully-stocked with all sorts of weapons they could imagine.

“God, I’m gonna owe Iwai so big for this…” Ren said under his breath as Futaba ran a hand along a nearby table, making a face at the dust her finger drew up.

“Ugh, it’s gonna take foreverrrrr to clean all this stuff up. I do not look forward to that…” Futaba turned to her brother, hands on her hips. “But I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with the place! It’s a much better HQ than an attic in a coffee shop!”

“You’re not wrong. It’s well-stocked, easy to defend, and hard to find. It’ll be tough adjusting, though…”

“But it’s nothing the Phantom Thieves can’t handle!” Futaba exclaimed with an arm extended, finger pointed up in the air. “As long as I don’t have to share a room with anybody, though. How else am I going to find the space to read my doj-”

“Ok, that’s enough.” Ren shut his eyes forcefully, extending a hand. “I don’t want to hear you finish that sentence.

The gremlin flashed a toothy grin as she made her way to the staircase that led up to the main bar. “C’mon, you know I said way worse back when we would drive around in Mementos! And did you forget the time I actually introduced Inari to dojinji in the first place?”

Ren shook his head with a sigh, before jogging to catch up to Futaba. “But you weren’t a real sister figure to me yet back then, now it’s just weird!”

She paused at the top of the stairs, giving Ren the time to catch up to her. “Well, you better get used to it. I’m not changing my perverted ways now!”

The elder Sakura smirked as he reached the top of the stairwell, shutting and locking the door behind him. “I wouldn’t want you to. I wouldn’t trade you for the world, sister.”

Futaba smirked, poking Ren in the middle of the chest. “Except for Makoto. Or maybe Shiho.”

“Don’t make me choose between you all, that’s unfair.” He paused, before a sudden smirk crossed his face as he winked at Futaba. “Besides, you may not like the answer I give you.”

Futaba rolled her eyes dramatically. “You’re a hopeless romantic, dork. Anyway, let’s make like a tree. We need to meet up with the scary Niijimas to see if they bought me the right equipment! Plus, now you owe me curry!”

Ren smiled at his sister. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go back.”

He silently swore that he would make sure Futaba’s trademark attitude and fire wouldn’t die out, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are really getting serious for the Phantom Thieves, but their journey as a full-blown underground organization has just begun!
> 
> Not a ton going on here, just mostly showcasing how they're all preparing, the new hideout (which will be named in the future), and in a couple of cases, confronting past memories. But hey, at least Kawakami is the principal now! Good for her! Or maybe not, depending on how you view being the principal of a school like Shujin.
> 
> Just a little bit of shameless advertising here, I got an idea and wrote a one-shot about it a few days ago. I'm most likely going to post it sometime before the next TWaM chapter, so keep an eye out for it! As for Broken Souls, I'm still working on it. But I accidentally got much more in-depth than I originally planned for it. Which is both a good thing, and a bad thing. It's good, because I'll really be able to flesh out Ren and Shiho's story. But it's bad because I can't feasibly write both TWaM and Broken Souls consistently. I'll still write it on the side, but I won't be able to do anything like once-a-week for Broken Souls until I finish this.


	27. Clean Slate

“ _This_ is it?”

“Well, I _guess_ it’s discreet. Ain’t exactly hidden, though.”

“Silly Ryuji! Sometimes, hiding in plain sight is the best option! They may be checking all the corners for us but they won’t check one of the billions of bars in Tokyo!”

The entire roster of the Phantom Thieves stood in the bar of their new hideout, suitcases and duffel bags in hand. It was the day they were to move into the hideout, and the last day of their informed grace period. The group of 9 + cat could barely fit in the small, narrow space with their luggage as Ren pushed past all of them to open the access to the bowling alley turned hideout.

“Futaba and I spent the last three days moving everything in here. Security equipment, Futaba’s rig, topping off the weapon arsenal, all that stuff. We stocked the kitchen as well. We have food for now, but we’ll need to figure out how to safely get food in a couple of weeks. We also bit the bullet and cleaned the entire place, too.” Ren groaned, recalling the sheer amount of work that took. “You all owe us big time.”

“You shoulda seen it beforehand.” Futaba interjected. “Took half a day, and that was using our Metaverse powers to speed things up as much as possible. Plus, Ren even busted out Lavenza to help! She did some weird magic thing to make cleaning much easier. Woulda taken days otherwise.”

Ren chuckled and patted Futaba on the head. “As for personal belongings, I hope whatever everyone gave to me to move into here was all they wanted. I have a feeling our places are going to get raided tomorrow, so anything valuable or something that holds sentimental value should have already been moved in here.”

“Such bullshit.” Ryuji muttered, leaning with his back against the bar. “We’re lucky we had just enough time to get all the important shit out, but them raiding our places ain’t gonna be fun.”

Futaba grinned, adjusting her glasses. “Speak for yourself! I moved practically everything into here, so they’re gonna find a bare apartment when they kick down the door.”

Makoto sighed and pushed her way through Futaba and Ryuji, standing next to Ren. “We can all bicker like usual once we get settled in. For now, can we actually get downstairs?”

“Sure thing, my Queen.” Ren smirked, leading them all down the narrow hallway to the door. He inputted the code, only to find that it didn’t work. He narrowed his eyes, thinking he must have put it in wrong, and tried again.

When he got the same result, he openly groaned. “What am I doing wrong? I swear this is the correct code…”

From the back, he could hear Futaba chuckling. “I took the liberty to change the code, since it was one that those who knew about the place before knew. The new code is 06942013370!”

Ren couldn’t stop his palm from hitting his face. “Futaba, please tell me you’re joking…”

“Just try it!”

He did, and much to his annoyance, the lock clicked open.

“God, you have the maturity of a 7 year old…” The disappointment was palpable in Makoto’s voice, much to Futaba’s delight.

“That’s older than I was expecting! I wanna get a better setup than some measly input code, so it’s only temporary anyway. Now let’s go in already!”

Satisfied with Futaba’s confession, Ren merely shouldered his duffel bag, and stepped down into their new home.

\----------

“All right, now that everyone’s settled in and picked rooms, let’s call one last meeting before we forget Phantom Thief business for the rest of the day.” Ren announced as all the thieves sat around a large glass dining room table that sat next to the open concept kitchen. He sat at the head of the table, with Makoto next to him on one side, with Shiho on the other.

“This place is much nicer than expected. It will be hard to acquire inspiration when underground, however…” Yusuke mused, a hand on his chin. “Ah! Perhaps I can get Ann to mod-”

“NO.” Was Ann’s stout reply. “Unless it’s for that one thing, I’m not gonna model for you right now!”

“Wait, what thing?” Ryuji asked the room, confused.

Ren, who knew what Ann was referring to, moved along the conversation so the surprise wouldn’t be spoiled. “Anyway, there’s just a couple of things I want to talk about. The first is that unless we’re going out and doing something specific, we should all stay here where it’s safest.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Futaba shrugged. “When the entire fuzz is lookin’ to nab our asses, I’d rather be holed up somewhere safe.”

“Futaba’s right. Starting tomorrow, we’re all going to be wanted criminals in the eyes of the law, and probably the public, too.” There was a hint of sadness in Makoto’s voice as she talked. “The fewer chances we have of us being recognized, the better. Even non-corrupt police officers would be eager to arrest a group as notorious as the Phantom Thieves. It would also be wise for us to lie low for the next week or two, at least. It gives us time to plan out our next heist, as well.”

“God, I still can’t believe I’ve gotten so deep into this mess…” Sae mumbled, her forehead resting on the glass table. “But I’m glad I did. Awakening to my persona was the most satisfying thing that happened to me since getting Ren out of juvie early.”

Shiho and Ren exchanged looks. “And God knows I’m thankful for that, Sae.” He said as Shiho sent him a warm smile, not taking his eyes off her. “But you’ve picked our side, so we’d like for you to stick with it.”

Sae raised her head from the table, staring straight at Ren. “I may be astonished at the path life has taken me on, but I have no regrets. I am with the Phantom Thieves, forever and always.”

“Sis…” Makoto said softly, while Ren placed a hand on her shoulder with a squeeze.

“Ok, so second order of business. Sae, you mentioned that you learned something important when you awoke to your persona?”

Sae stood up from her chair, fingertips on the glass top. “Yes. I awoke to Minerva in a special place that she described as the remnants of the Metaverse. She called it Shadow Tokyo.”

The room was filled with stunned silence.

“Um… Is it that big of a shock to everyone?” Sae asked the silent room, looking at each of her fellow thieves’ faces. “If our enemy has been able to enact reverse changes of heart, I don’t see how this should be that big of a surprise. We did agree to not rule out the idea the Metaverse was completely gone, yes?”

Makoto was the first to recover. “I-Well… I suppose you’re right, but it’s still a bit of a shock.”

“That is indeed a lot to take in.” Haru chimed in after taking a sip of water from the glass in front of her. “But I suppose Sae-san is correct; this shouldn’t be too much of a shock to us. We recently learned there have been multiple extra extraordinary worlds where personas are usable, after all.”

Ann stood up from her seat excitedly. “Yeah, and I bet we could really use it to our advantage, too! If we can figure out how to get there, we won’t have to worry about real world heists anymore!”

The others began to murmur in agreement, but Sae cleared her throat, garnering the attention of the others. “I’m not sure if that will be the case. Granted, I never witnessed the Metaverse except for the brief period I was in my own palace, but from the descriptions you all have told me over the years, this ‘Shadow Tokyo’ is a very different place.”

“Try us.” Morgana challenged from his position on Haru’s lap. “What did Shadow Tokyo look like? Did it have red skies? Did you see any shadows? Where in Tokyo did you show up?”

While Shiho was receiving a whispered translation from Ren, Sae shook her head, continuing. “It was nothing like that. I was in Shibuya crossing, except it was completely deserted. The city looked identical to the normal one aside from a few key differences.”

“Such as?” Ren asked, crossing his arms in thought.

“The first major difference from your description was that there was no red sky, or anything that gave off light, for that matter. It looked to be in the dead of the night.”

“So, it was pitch-black?” Shiho asked, tilting her head.

“Not quite. There were no lights on in the city itself.” Sae corrected. “However, because of that, the night sky was full of stars, to the extent I could even see the Milky Way stardust perfectly. That alone was more than enough light for me to see my surroundings.”

Amidst all the “oooooh”s and “ahhhhhh”s coming from the thieves, Yusuke shot up in his seat, an arm stretched forward. “Astounding! I must see this for my own eyes, for I shall do my best to create a piece worthy of such a spectacle!”

The old Sae would have groaned and commanded attention, but the new Sae, who had accepted herself and her faults, merely chuckled. “It was indeed a beautiful sight. Hopefully you all get to see it one day.”

She waited until everyone calmed down, then moved on. “The second major point was how deserted it was, despite the condition of the city. As I stated earlier, the city was identical to the one in reality, but there wasn’t anybody around. As far as I’m aware, the Metaverse had those shadows and cognitions as its residents, yes?”

“Yup, that’s right. Why, did you see any shadows?” Ann asked while twirling her hair.

“Did you check out the subway system? Mementos always had people’s shadows waiting for trains.” Morgana added, tilting his head.

Sae shook her head again. “I didn’t see any shadows, but I also didn’t go into the train station. But… I couldn’t sense anything. I’m not exactly sure why I know that, but I do.”

Ryuji smirked. “Yeah, that’s just instinct that comes with your powers. Pretty awesome, huh?”

“Our awesome powers aside, that still sounds kinda off.” The confusion on Futaba’s voice was not lost to the table. “Normally wherever we were in the Metaverse, we could at least sense something, no matter how faint. Isn’t it kinda weird that Sae couldn’t feel anything? The Metaverse shouldn’t be deserted like that.”

“I can’t really relate to that, but could it have anything to do with what Minerva said? That Shadow Tokyo is only the remnants of a separated Metaverse?” Shiho offered, looking to Ren for guidance.

He gave her a nod of encouragement. “It’s something worth considering. But there’s something that’s still eating at me.”

“I think I know what you’re about to say.” Makoto interrupted, a hand on Ren’s arm. “If Shadow Tokyo is deserted, then where are all of the shadows? Humans can’t exist without inner selves, so they have to be somewhere.”

As the table fell into silence, Ren coughed. “It doesn’t seem like we have any answers for Shadow Tokyo right now, but we’ll work towards it. If we can figure out what it is exactly, we might be able to use it to fight back.”

Sae, who had still been standing this entire time, took a seat back into her chair. “I agree, but I believe we already have something else to take care of first?”

“She’s right. Before we can tackle the Shadow Tokyo situation, we need to find out why I survived a sniper rifle bullet to the head.” It was meant to be a joke, but nobody laughed at Ren’s quip.

Futaba continued on in his stead. “I’ll do some digging on where we can find a place to get it analyzed! Though I have a feeling we’re dealing with the supernatural, and I don’t think your standard police forensics lab can cover that. Unless you know something we don’t, Makoto?”

“Heh. I wish.” Was the ex-officer’s short, but telling reply.

“...On that note, I think we’ll call it a day here. I’d say everyone can go home, but…” Ren looked at the ground, biting his cheek. “We’re already here.”

It took a few seconds of silence before Futaba groaned loudly, standing up from her chair. “Oh my Lavenza, you guys as such saps! Let’s go play some Halo or something, I set up a couple of xboxes with all the TVs earlier cuz I was bored. If anybody beats me, I’ll dig up an embarrassing photo on somebody else of your choice!”

The promise of potentially seeing significant others, close friends, and other ‘found family’ in embarrassing scenarios was more than enough to lighten the mood. Ren watched as the thieves followed Futaba to their living room portion of what used to be the bowling lanes, where several TVs were set up on one of the walls that partitioned off the shooting range.

“She’s so great at boosting morale. That’s something I’ll never be able to do.” Makoto said at his side, nudging her shoulder against his.

Ren nudged her back. “What can I say? You guys would be lost without us Sakuras.”

Makoto smiled. “Maybe. But luckily, we don’t have to think about that.”

Ren watched as Shiho, Futaba, Ryuji, and Haru all sat at a TV, booting up a game of free for all slayer. “You’re right. We don’t.”

\----------

Fortunately, the rest of the day was filled with laughter and embarrassing photos of Ren (much to his dismay). But to Shiho, the experience was so much more.

Despite being close to Ren, Makoto, Ann, and Morgana for many years, she had not once actually spent quality time with the entirety of the Phantom Thieves. Ren had always described them as a dysfunctional family, and now that she witnessed them firsthand, she wholeheartedly agreed.

So as Shiho and Ren were washing the dishes after their late night dinner of Leblanc curry, she decided to make that known. “You know, at first I didn’t believe you, when you said just how dysfunctional the Phantom Thieves are.”

“Oh yeah?” He smirked, stealing a quick glance at her before turning his attention back to scrubbing a pot.

“Mhm. Back then, the Phantom Thieves performed some of the greatest feats Japan had ever seen. I would hear people speculating about it at Isegawa. I heard they were a super organized crime ring of vigilantes, one person who was the greatest thief to ever live, and I even overheard one conversation where someone thought the Phantom Thieves weren’t people, but instead some sort of force of nature.”

Ren chuckled. “If only they knew…”

“If only they knew, yes…” Shiho started. “...That the world-famous Phantom Thieves were a ragtag group of outcast, stubborn, underage teenagers whose entire MO could be summed up in two words: ‘adults bad’. That’s a compliment, by the way.”

“I hope that the ‘adults bad’ reasoning comes with exceptions.” Came a woman’s voice from behind.

The pair turned around to see Sae standing there, clad in a pair of sweatshorts and a loose-fitting tank top that showed an inch or two of her stomach. Ren, who had seen Sae in sleepwear before, didn’t bat an eye, but he watched Shiho drop a plate into the sink in surprise as her eyes did a quick passover of the older woman.

Ren did his best to stifle a laugh, while Sae smirked. “Glad to know I still have it, even at my ‘old age’. Ren, can I talk to Suzui-san for a minute?”

The boy in question flicked his eyes from Shiho, who was trying to stop staring, back to Sae. “...That’s up to the hopeless lesbian.” Turning back to Shiho, he cracked a smile. “Are you ok to talk to Sae, or will you be staring too much?”

Shiho groaned good-naturedly, and pushed Ren’s arm as she finally pried her eyes off the silver-haired woman. “At least get it right and call me a hopeless bisexual. But yes, I think I’ll be ok.” She turned to Sae, crossing her arms. “At least, I assume so, now that she has a persona. And it was the shadow doing all that talking, right?”

At Sae’s nod, Ren wiped his hands off with a towel, then set off towards the living area, where the rest of the group was watching a movie. “If you need a mediator, just let me know. But I trust the both of you to keep it clean.”

Shiho waited until Ren was out of earshot, then shyly looked down at the ground. “Um, sorry for staring. I just-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sae’s dismissal came quickly, as if she was expecting it. “If it’s any consolation, everyone else in the group did the same at some point. And nobody could ever do worse than Ryuji a few years ago. He got two nosebleeds seeing me in my normal sleepwear for the first time.”

“Two?” Shiho asked, furrowing her brow.

“One from seeing me in sleepwear, another after I punched him in the face.”

The younger girl giggled at the thought. “I can definitely see Ryuji getting into trouble like that.”

There was a stint of awkward silence between them before Sae moved up next to her, grabbing the pot Ren was halfway through cleaning. “All that aside, I wanted to apologize to you.”

“For what?” Shiho simply asked as she also returned to her cleaning, spraying the cooktop to wipe it down.

Sae looked at her as if she grew a second head. “Is it not obvious? I apologize for my terrible behavior when I interrogated and touched you without permission. I had an inkling you were the one who suffered the most at the hands of Kamoshida, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. Although, I imagine you don’t want to hear excuses.”

To the attorney’s surprise, Shiho shrugged. “It is obvious, but I just wanted you to say it. It’s ok. Now I know that your shadow was basically in control of you. And from the stories Ren’s told me about people’s shadows, it could have done a lot worse to me.”

Even if it made sense, it didn’t make Sae feel any better. “Even still, that was a part of me that I hid away, that I refused to acknowledge. That I don’t always know what’s best, some things are out of my control, and sometimes it’s for the best.”

Shiho stopped cleaning, and looked directly at Sae. “I’m glad that you realize it. And I really do appreciate the apology. However, there’s something I’d rather you do than apologize.”

Sae raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I want you to improve yourself. You just acknowledged your faults, and that’s great. But I really hope you learn from it, too.”

“I understand. And I already plan to do so, with the first step being giving you my blessing of being with Makoto and Ren.”

Shiho anticipated a lot of responses from Sae, but she definitely didn’t anticipate that one. She took a step back subconsciously, eyes widening. “You… what?”

“I’m giving you my blessing.” Sae repeated. “From what I understand, you’re the reason Ren is currently alive right now, is it not?”

Shiho couldn’t find it in herself to answer Sae, instead looking directly at the ground.

“I’ll take that as confirmation. Because of you, Ren and Makoto have been happy together for a very long time. If you’re somebody important to them because of that, I now realize it is not my place to take that away from any of you, especially if it brings you three happiness. And that is what I want in the end. For my family to be happy. Both the one bound by blood, and the one bound by...” She gestured around them, at the thieves, and their new home. “this.”

“...I appreciate it, Niijima-san.” Shiho said quietly as she moved a hand to her arm.

“Just call me Sae, like everyone else does.”

“Oh, I see, Sae. Well, you can call me Shiho, then.”

The young ravenette hesitantly stuck a hand out, which Sae readily took in her own. Shiho watched their handshake, then looked up to Sae, smiling. “Clean slate?”

Sae returned with a warm smile of her own. “Clean slate.”

\----------

“Makoto… Am I doing a good job as a leader?”

Makoto looked up from the book she was reading and at Ren, who was lying down, staring at the ceiling of their new bedroom. It was just the two of them in their new king-sized bed, Morgana having gone off to spend the night in Haru’s room. Since the couple were the leader and second in command, the rest of the thieves practically forced them into the master suite against their protests claiming they didn’t need such luxury.

“Of course you are, Ren. Why do you ask?”

He shifted in the bed to look at her, the Velvet Room key-necklace on his chest sliding to the sheets under the force of gravity. “I don’t feel like I am. Sure, I may not be terrible at giving out orders, but would a good leader have gotten all of us in this situation? Would a good leader have allowed three murders? Would a good leader have been able to prevent our two new members from going into hiding? I should have realized the security footage would be a problem. Maybe I should have given the order to-”

“Ren, please stop. That’s not what a leader is. That’s a perfectionist. A leader takes the situation they’re given, no matter what it is, and guides their team to the best of the ability. If the leader is doing a good job, it’ll be evident in the mood of the rest of their team. And given how high the spirits were of everyone earlier tonight, I think you’re doing an amazing job.”

Ren stared at her for several seconds, then gave her a rare genuine smile. “...You always know what to say to me.”

Makoto set down her book, smiled at Ren, and was on top of him in seconds. “Well, you learn a thing or two about someone when you date them for 6 years.” She smirked down at him, running a hand through his hair. “We’ll get through this.”

“We always do.” Ren finished for her, and leaned in.

They had locked lips for only a few seconds before a knocking sound came from the door. Makoto pulled away from Ren with a groan, but didn’t even bother to get off of him while she called out “it’s open!”

Her goal was that whoever opened the door would see something was going on and leave them be, but instead she was slightly surprised to see Shiho gingerly open the door, peeking at them from behind the frame. “Oh, am I interrupting? I’ll-”

Makoto immediately reversed her annoyed attitude. “Of course not! Come on in, Shiho. Is something wrong?”

Shiho entered the room in earnest, revealing she was wearing pajama pants and a big white t-shirt. “I was hanging out with Ryuji and Ann until they decided to go to sleep, and…” She trailed off, too embarrassed to finish.

Ren did it for her. “You don’t want to be alone?”

A slight flush came to Shiho’s cheeks. “Yeah. I know it’s kind of stupid, considering many of our members also have rooms to themselves, but it’s… It’s lonely, you know?”

“I get you. The whole reason you stuck with us is because you were lonely, right?” Ren asked softly, sitting upright in the bed to look at her.

Shiho shrugged. “I mean, I at least had my volleyball team when I would travel, and we would always share rooms. And since I’ve been staying with Ann since the night at the nightclub, it’s the first night in a long time it’s just me.”

Makoto swung her legs off the side of the bed, then patted the empty space next to her. “Spend the night with us, then. We’ll be happy to have you.”

Next to her, Ren scoffed. “You shouldn’t even have to ask in the first place. Our room is your room, Angel.”

Shiho rolled her eyes but giggled as she made her way to the bed, moving past Makoto to situate herself in between the two. “If you’re going to call me that again now, then I need a new codename.”

Ren snuggled up to Shiho as she climbed under the sheets, Makoto doing the same on the other side. “We’ll settle that later. For now though, we need some sleep.”

“You sound like Morgana.” Makoto chuckled, reaching over Shiho to poke Ren in the forehead.

“I’ve heard about the legendary ‘go to sleep’ phrase from Ren, but I hope I’ll be able to hear it for myself one day…” Shiho sighed.

“We’ll figure that out later, too. But I’m seriously exhausted.” As if to prove his point, Ren let loose a big yawn. “ Plus, we’re gonna need to wake up bright and early tomorrow to see our inevitable announcement as criminals. Anyway, see you two tomorrow?”

The two girls answered at the same time, as they had many times before. “Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too much going on here in terms of action-y stuff, but it's always fun to get some character development in! Not to mention the thieves need some time to relax and prepare, too. Fortunately they're in high spirits, so let's hope it stays that way going forward!
> 
> So, here's some shameless advertising for ya: I uploaded a new fic called Persona 5: Social Distancing Edition the other day. It essentially asks the question 'what if the PTs were doing their thing during covid'? It's not an actual story but instead it'll be a bunch of one-shots where whenever I get an idea or get a good one recommended to me, I'll write it out for fun. It won't be updated a ton I don't think, but just whenever I wanna vent my frustrations about the world we currently live in :P
> 
> And for those of you who also read Broken Souls, the next chapter is pretty much finished. I just need to do some editing and proofreading. It'll be released soon!


	28. Things Just Got Complicated

The following morning, the entirety of the Phantom Thieves sat around the biggest TV in the living area, each nursing their own version of breakfast as they watched the news.

“Do we even know if they’re gonna bring us up this early? I can’t believe I had to wake up so early for this…” Futaba grumbled, all her usual spunk gone in favor of a half-asleep stupor. She struggled to keep her eyes open as she leaned on Ren’s shoulder, the two sharing a section of one of the L-shaped couches in the room.

“We don’t even know if there’ll be a news broadcast, to be honest.” Makoto said, shrugging slightly. “But today would be the first day of this so-called ‘game’ we’re in, and if our enemy is going to pull out all the stops like they said they would, I’d hazard a guess our connection to Paradise will be revealed this morning.”

Futaba saw Ren cast a glance at Haru, who was showing little to no emotional change to what Makoto had said. The redhead didn’t pay much more attention to it. _Maybe the murder floof got over it, finally._

Still though, it didn’t go unnoticed to Futaba how quickly she herself was able to excuse the murder of three people, even though she wasn’t the one who actually did it.

“If they want to begin the hunt as soon as possible, I imagine it’ll be shown immediately. So, my guess is the news segment at 8, in 10 minutes.” Sae said from her position on a fuzzy rug on the ground, her back up against a leg of the couch.

The rest of the thieves fell into silence at that, either watching the TV absent-mindedly or doing something on their phones. Futaba looked down at her own, scrolling through a list of special contacts Ren provided that have been shrouded by her programs. All of his confidants who knew their secret. Futaba didn’t believe their enemy for a second that they would leave their friends alone, but better to be safe than sorry!

She went through the list, clicking on each contact and checking their coordinates. Was it a breach in privacy? Probably. Buuuuuut, Futaba was never really one who cared about stuff as meaningless as privacy. It’s 2022, privacy is a thing of the past.

The familiar jingle of Good Morning Japan made her look up from her phone.

_“Good Morning Japan! Today is July 13th, 2022, it’s 8am as you all know and today we have some special news lined up! We have an interview with the author behind the popular new bestseller ‘Strange World’, tips on how to beat the summer heat when you don’t have an air conditioner, and an update about the Phantom Thieves’ return! You don’t want to miss this, so stay with us! So, how are you…”_

As the show hosts moved into their opening segment, Futaba was swaying back and forth in her seat. “Ohhhhh the author of ‘Strange World’ is on? I read that book not too long ago, it was great!”

Ann looked up from her phone and over Ryuji’s head, who was leaning up against her on the L-section of the couch. “I heard about that. It’s about a group of teenagers who live during some sort of apocalypse, right?”

Futaba nodded vigorously. “Uh huh! It’s a good story, except the characters in the book took foreeeeeever to get together romantically, even though they clearly liked each other! I grew grey hairs waiting for it to happen! Grey, I tell you!”

Ren chuckled and patted his sister on the head. “Sometimes you just gotta wait for the right moment. Isn’t that right, Makoto?”

The young woman in question gave Ren a questioning glance from her position next to Sae on the floor. “Your line was incredibly corny. Lucky for you, I was a hopeless romantic and didn’t know any better.”

“You still are one. You just learned how to put up with me, is all.” The cockiness in Ren’s voice was palpable as he smirked.

Makoto rolled her eyes, but she was grinning too. “You keep telling yourself that.”

Ren was going to retort, but he fell short when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind. “He can be cocky when he wants to, but we all know that Ren is _quite_ the softie when you get to know him.”

Futaba, who had noticed Shiho coming and had aptly moved off of Ren’s shoulder to make room, cracked a wide smile. “He’s the ultimate softie! Especially when I pull the puppy dog eyes on him!”

“Futaba, you’re 21. You shouldn’t be using puppy dog eyes in the first place.” Ren said, exasperated, but he already knew what Futaba’s reply would be.

“I will when it stops working!”

He didn’t have an answer for that.

\----------

It took roughly 2 hours until the Phantom Thieves finally became the center of attention for Good Morning Japan.

_“...and moving onto our next segment, the police have finally revealed a fully detailed report regarding the events that happened at Paradise nightclub, including information on the comeback of the Phantom Thieves.”_

All eyes and ears instantly became glued to the TV as they awaited their inevitable biased judgement.

_“Let’s see what was said… The following statement was reported by the commissioner’s deputy.”_

Makoto let out a relieved sigh, much to everyone’s confusion.

_‘The incident regarding the sex trafficking den bust was without a doubt due to the acts of the Phantom Thieves. Without them, this would not have been possible, since we had no idea such an operation was taking place.”_

“...Huh, that’s not what I expected.” Ryuji muttered under his breath.

_“However, there are plenty of reasons for concern. While it is indeed a good deed done by the Phantom Thieves, they have yet to answer for their crimes several years ago when they uncovered the Shido conspiracy. Furthermore, they have been officially linked to the death of three security guards at Paradise nightclub. It is unknown if they were security guards of the club itself, or for the trafficking den, but forensics seem to consider the latter more heavily. At this time, the Phantom Thieves whereabouts are unknown, but the police intend to bring them in for a proper trial in a court of law’.”_

The announcer took a deep breath, and turned to her co-host. Futaba muted the TV before she spoke up again; they didn’t need to hear the rest.

“That was surprisingly lenient. I expected to hear much worse.” Sae said, still staring at the TV. “I wonder why…”

Makoto stood up, stretching, and turned to everyone else with a grin. “The commissioner’s deputy stopped me on the way out last week. He told me he was tasked with the debriefing the police would give to the media. But the thing is, at one point before all this he was already a supporter of the Phantom Thieves.”

Ren allowed a short laugh to escape him. “And since he was writing the report, he did his best to not make us look like total monsters while still trying to satisfy his boss? We owe him big-time, but I hope he doesn’t get fired over this.”

Makoto shrugged. “He told me not to worry about him, that he would be safe. I’m not sure what he’ll do to ensure safety, but I’m not going to question it.”

“Well, it’s good that we seem to still have some supporters in high places!” Shiho exclaimed. “But, as soon as they’re found out, I imagine they would have a reverse change of heart happen to them…”

“... And who knows what would happen from that.” Sae finished.

“Actually, we did come up with a few ideas when you were asleep, Sae-san.” Haru chimed in. “We think that a certain desire within the individual is warped to the point that it becomes detrimental. For example, your quest to guarantee happiness for Makoto was manipulated so you would do… well…”

“We know what I did, we don’t need to dwell on that.” Sae said quickly. “But that is a sound theory. Yusuke’s former patron’s manipulation must have been about money, in that case.”

Ann sighed and sat up, swinging her legs off the side of the couch. “That would make sense, but there’s still one question I don’t get. Why not just trigger a reverse change of heart in Shiho if they’re trying to take us down without pulling any punches, you know? That’s what I would do. Sorry, Shiho.”

The girl in question smiled sheepishly and waved her hand. “None taken, Ann. But you’re right, it would be pretty easy to just reverse my heart, and then I’d destroy you all from the inside out.”

Shiho didn’t realize what she said until she saw all eyes staring at her, unblinking. She was quick on the backpedal. “Not to say I’m having thoughts or hearing voices in my head or anything, that’s just how I would do it too! All hypothetical thinking!”

“Shiho, you’ll let us know if you think something is off, right?” Ann asked cautiously, looking at her best friend.

“I already said I would.” Shiho replied, slight annoyance in her voice. “I promise I’ll keep everyone in the loop.”

Sensing the rising tension in the room, Ren got up from his seat to break it. “Ok, I think she gets it. Let’s go ahead and take the rest of the day off. We’re gonna need the rest, and it’s not like we’ll be able to do much besides hiding out here, anyways.”

As the group began to get up from their positions around the TV and break off, Ren walked up to Makoto. “Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”

Makoto took the hand offered to her, and Ren pulled her up. “Of course, Ren. What is it?”

He flashed a toothy grin at her. “I think I have an idea on what our next move should be.”

\----------

Shin Onishi knew it would be only a matter of time until his boss, Commissioner Sugawara, would come knocking at his door.

The commissioner’s deputy sat back in his plush chair in his office, stared out his window, and let his mind wander.

Onishi had always been a fan of the Phantom Thieves, even though their debut was while he was already a couple of years into the force. Despite being branded a group of criminals, Onishi respected that they targeted those who the police either did not see, or certain individuals in the hierarchy would deliberately turn a blind eye to. The fact that Kaneshiro’s name wasn’t even known aside from the fact there was a mob boss in Shibuya became clear as day once it was revealed he was bankrolling Shido... Who also happened to have most of the police in his pocket.

For that reason, Onishi strove to rise to the top. He wanted to reach a rank where he could really make a difference from the right side of the law. Perhaps he’d even find a way to collude with the Phantom Thieves.

Unfortunately, that never went far. When the leader of the Phantom Thieves turned himself in on Christmas, Onishi knew they had finished what they set out to do. Whether it was to bring Shido to justice, or they simply got tired of stealing hearts, he would never know. Either way, they became lost to time, and he had put them in the back of his mind.

Little would he realize that 6 years later, the Phantom Thieves would rise again to fight injustice. But either they were sloppy, or they couldn’t steal hearts in the way they used to be able to. Or, these guys were frauds. Wannabes. Maybe even hardcore fans who wanted to carry on their legacy in a sick and twisted way.

And then, apparently Niijima was potentially branded as a Phantom Thief after some internal information was leaked throughout the force after the nightclub anonymous tip. She was the girlfriend of that one teenager who turned himself in several years ago; Ren Amamiya, the leader of the Phantom Thieves.

That was way too big of a coincidence.

It took a bit of elbow grease, pulling strings, and promising favors to people he wish he didn’t have to, but Onishi was able to send two different reports out. One was sent to Sugawara for approval, and the other was sent to Good Morning Japan’s email request for a statement on the recent events.

Onishi sighed, and ran his hands over his face. He was glad Niijima seemed to have made herself scarce, and while he ensured he would be safe, the only real precaution he took was to try to make the statement as unbiased as possible. If it wasn’t enough, he likely wouldn’t leave the station before being clapped in chains. Nevertheless, he was confident he wouldn’t be leaving in a body bag, at least.

The phone on his desk rang, and he picked it up timidly.

_“ONISHI! MY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY!”_

Onishi set the phone down without a word, sighed again, and stood up.

His only regret was that he didn’t praise the Phantom Thieves more in his statement.

\----------

“So, what did you have in mind, and why bring it up to just me instead of the whole team?”

Makoto crossed her arms as her boyfriend closed the door to the security room, now transformed into their command center, so to speak. “Don’t we already know we need to find a forensics lab?”

Ren turned back to face her, leaning against the door. “I’m bringing it up to you only just to run it past you before the whole group, like we used to do. And yes, we do need to find a lab. That’s what this is about.”

Makoto took a seat at the round table sitting in the middle of the room. “Fair enough. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, since our best bet is to most likely sneak in somewhere, I thought I’d reach out to someone who knows the underworld.”

“You mean Iwai?”

“You guessed it. I spoke with him a few days ago on the phone.” When Makoto opened her mouth to say something, he added “Don’t worry, he had been shrouded by then. Anyway, what he said was really interesting. Apparently there’s some sort of lab run on the down low by some sort of tech conglomerate. They keep everything super hush-hush. Nobody even knows where the lab is, but the claim is that it’s at least somewhere in downtown Tokyo.”

“And you think that this tech conglomerate will somehow have the forensics data we need? How will we even know if the bullet is in the database to be traced back to the weapon used?”

“We don’t, but this is where it gets interesting. Apparently this company was involved in some really shady stuff back in 1999 or so. And then in 2009, a bunch of unexplainable events occurred at the same city the headquarters resides in. Tatsumi Port Island, right off the coast of Odaiba.”

It took a second, but Makoto was otherwise quick to catch on. “That's quite close by. But besides that, you think the Metaverse could be related to it?”

Ren shrugged. “It’s worth a guess. Iwai didn’t have any more information other than that, and he had no idea what the name of the company was since they attempted to remove their name from all the reports. But a google search combined with a bit of my own digging with Futaba’s special hacker mojo that allows me into places I shouldn’t be allowed into let me put two and two together.” He took out his phone, unlocked it, and set it in front of Makoto. As she looked down to see what he wanted to show her, Ren spoke up again.

“Tell me, Makoto. Have you ever heard of the Kirijo Group?”

\----------

“What kind of a report was _THAT?”_

Commissioner Sugawara slammed his hand down on his desk, giving his deputy, Shin Onishi, the hardest glare he could muster. “You made us look like we support the Phantom Thieves! We absolutely CANNOT allow that! And don’t even get me started on the fact that the report you sent in was NOT the one you sent me.”

Onishi did his absolute best to remain calm, despite the unfiltered rage in front of him. “Sir, I was merely giving the facts as we know them. If we told the public something we were not sure of, then we would be the fools if we were proved wrong in the end.”

“Facts be damned, Onishi! Facts don’t mean shit in this world!”

The deputy scrunched his brow, recoiling slightly. “Sir? You can’t possibly-”

“QUIET! It doesn’t matter what information we portray, as long as we have the means to back it up. And it’s quite easy to do so, let me tell you.”

Onishi couldn’t believe his ears. “Sir, you’ve just admitted to me that you’re corrupt. I’m going to have to bring you in for that.”

He knew it was fruitless, but his back was already against the wall. He was already doomed; might as well give it a shot anyway.

Sugawara sneered at his deputy, an ugly smile on his face. “Over half the police force is in our pocket. And you will be, too.”

Before he could react, Sugawara pulled a shiny, silver silenced handgun from his hip, aimed it right at Onishi, and fired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember a few chapters ago, somebody asked me if we were going to delve into the rabbit hole of the other persona games. And yes, yes we are!
> 
> The inclusion of the Kirijo Group has been planned from the start, and to state the obvious, they will play a big part in the story. But for right now, they shall stay shrouded in mystery. I did start playing through Persona 3:FES though, and I'm really excited for it! I'm playing it partly because I want to, but also because I want to understand the characters, what the Kirijo Group is exactly and how they operate, etc etc. I take my writing seriously!
> 
> This was kind of a shorter chapter, but I really like it. Lots of stuff going on!


	29. Gearing Up

Shibuya was a very different place when you were a wanted criminal.

Ren kept his hood low to his face, which was also largely covered by his fake glasses, and stuck to a brisk, but not head-turning, walking speed. He knew that police patrols were common in Shibuya. Not like they did anything, though. They were utterly useless during the Kaneshiro case, and the patrol that Ren just passed didn’t do so much as bat an eye.

Or at least, while they were in his line of sight.

As Ren rounded the corner into his former Velvet Room door alley, he honed his senses. It took only a second to sense the two officers coming after him at a leisurely pace. At that rate, they were going to turn the corner in a few seconds. With blinding speed, Ren ducked around the side of the alley and across from Untouchable. He pressed himself against the wall and into the shadows of the alley, and waited.

The police rounded the corner several seconds later, and Ren felt his breath hitch.

**Rest easy, Trickster.** Arsene soothed his other self from the depths of Ren’s mind.  **They have no hope against the powers of your cognition.**

Sure enough, the officers looked around in the alley, and one even at one point directly at him, but made no move to signify that he had seen the thief.

“Maybe they went to the shop?” One officer grumbled, while the other pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Fine. We can check quickly. Apparently he supplied them with weapons back then, too. But we don’t got shit on him so we can’t exactly do anything about it.”

The two officers entered the shop, and Ren let out a sigh of relief. He still stuck to the shadows, but instead opted to sit down and wait out the officers. They were in the place he needed to be, after all.

It was only a minute or two later before the cops came out the door, the second one rubbing his hands on his face.

“You’re being paranoid, anyway. It was just somebody with their hood up. The Phantom would have no reason to walk around Shibuya in broad daylight.”

“... Fine. It’s probably just me being itchy about it all. Can’t wait until we bring him in. I’ve had enough of Sugawara chewing us all out for not catching them yet.”

“Shit’s much harder than he thinks it is. And it’s only been a week. Took us months to catch him last…”

Their voices faded from Ren’s enhanced hearing range, and he quickly darted across the alley and into the airsoft shop. Thankfully, it was empty, save for the reason of Ren’s visit: the man behind the counter.

Iwai looked at him, dumbstruck. “The fuck you doin’ here?”

“I needed to talk to you.” Ren replied, as if the answer was obvious.

“And why didn’t you just call?”

“I also wanted to make some purchases.”

Iwai stared at Ren for a few seconds before grunting in acknowledgement. “Meet me in the back, kid. You’ve got some explaining to do after that broadcast a week ago.”

\----------

“How the hell am I supposed to know where that lab is? And don’t ask me to do more snooping, either. People are starting to ask if I’m back, and that’s getting way too close for comfort.” Iwai glared at Ren with his arms crossed, waiting for an answer.

Ren didn’t back down. “Then point me in the right direction of people I need to talk to.”

The former yakuza sighed. “Are you sure you wanna go through with this, kid? You’re stepping into some deep shit, and it ain’t easy to get out of it.”

“What other choice do I have? Not even our hacker could find anything relevant. The Kirijo Group is way too good at hiding away for as big as the company is. That, or they’re too influential.”

Iwai’s eyes widened. “The Kirijo Group? That’s who owns the facility? Kid, I know you guys are bonafide thieves, but sneaking into a Kirijo Group-owned facility is bad news. They’ve been pretty good as of late, but they used to be very shady. Not to mention how fucking powerful they are.”

“I’m aware. We did some digging of our own, and found some interesting stuff.”

Ren looked like he wanted to continue, but Iwai cut him off. “Stop. I don’t wanna hear any more. The less I know, the better.” He grabbed a piece of paper and pen, ripped off a corner, and scribbled down a number on it. “This guy’s former yakuza. Wanted to get out of it. The Kirijo Group offered him a job in exchange for a clean slate.”

Ren stared at the paper, then looked up with an inquisitive eye. “How did the Kirijo Group manage to wipe the slate of a yakuza member? And just a number, not even a name?”

“Why would I give you a name? Just be happy you’re getting anything, but I would… advise actually speaking to him. Like I said, they’re powerful. They haven’t done much bad since that one heiress chick graduated and took charge, but even the yakuza wouldn’t fuck with a company like that. Same goes for the employees.”

“Well, we’re not the yakuza.”

Iwai stared for a few seconds, then simply shook his head, sighing. “Whatever, kid. Just don’t get yourself killed. Now, what’s this about purchases? Model guns ain’t gonna do anything against people usin’ real ones. But then again, I ain’t gonna pretend you bought those guns back then just for intimidation purposes.”

Ren simply grinned in response. “Sometimes, all you need is a little imagination.”

“...This ain’t a game, kid.”

“Oh, I’m dead serious, Iwai.”

\----------

“So, you seriously think this’ll work?” Shiho asked as she held a very realistic-looking airsoft sniper rifle in her hands, freshly bought from Iwai earlier that day and put together by Ren once he got back home.

The week since the day Ren discovered the Kirijo Group, as well as the police announcement, had largely been slow. Futaba had been left to her devices on her own accord to gather information on the mysterious company, leaving the others without much to do aside from making their own improvements on their new base. Ryuji, Yusuke, and Makoto installed a particularly sturdy door with a more secure password system the day before, and while Haru and several others were looking at somehow getting gym equipment into their hideout, Ren, Shiho, and Makoto took to the shooting range to test out their new toys.

“Maybe? I’ll admit that I’m going off of what the Metaverse was able to let us do, and even then, it depended on the cognition of our enemies.” Was Ren’s reply while he watched Shiho inspect the new purchase.

“Well, wouldn’t it work as long as they thought it was a real gun? Maybe if the model is that convincing, it could work the same way in the real world? Makoto mused from her position leaning against a wall in the shooting range.

“If that were the case, then Haru’s grenade launcher would have had very different effects when we were escaping from Paradise.”

The trio was silent for a little while, each in their own thoughts while Shiho began pelting targets down the range with pellet rounds. Makoto adjusted the safety glasses sitting on her face while she processed the possibilities of Ren’s theory.

Using cognition to somehow make pellet guns shoot the real deal. If it was possible to somehow pull off, it could be extremely beneficial; even when they already had a small armory in-house. Not only would it be practically untraceable to find a gun for a bullet that can’t actually shoot the rounds it did, but it would also be a much needed lethal method of eliminating those who threatened-

Makoto’s train of thought stopped instantly when she realized the road she was going down. She shouldn’t be thinking about using lethal weapons. The Phantom Thieves don’t kill, even when they need to protect one another… right? Or… Would it be justified then? Would it be necessary?

The brunette inwardly cursed and attempted again to push the thought away. She couldn’t go down that path. She wouldn’t let anybody else. Killing people would only make things worse for the thieves. 

She was extremely thankful when Shiho broke their silence. “I really like this one, Ren. The range is a little short to really get the full effect from this thing, though.”

Ren smiled at her. “Glad you like it. I kinda figured you’d want something like that, considering how much you loved to snipe when we would go play paintball and airsoft.”

Shiho grinned back. “It was always fun to pick people off when they had no idea they were even being watched. The looks on their faces were always amazing!”

Despite herself, Makoto couldn’t help agreeing. “The one time I went with everyone was quite enjoyable, and you were indeed an invaluable source of cover fire. But that being said, I think you two are missing the severity of this situation.”

She pushed herself off the wall, walking up to one of the tables on the range that held a real revolver. Picking it up, she spun the chamber. “I’ll admit I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like guns. However, we really need to be aware of the amount of damage a single bullet can cause.”

That seemed to have soured the mood a little, but that was also what Makoto was intending to do. The two shared looks between each other, then Ren sighed.

“Maybe it would be best if we try not to do that for now, then. It’s true that any more deaths would make us look horrible. People are uneasy about us enough, but we don’t want to push it over the edge.

At Shiho’s reluctant nod, Makoto imagined herself wiping her brow in relief. “I’m glad you two see it that way too. We can’t allow ourselves to become killers. It’s not what we are. And besides, didn’t Iwai tell you tranquilizer bullets could also be used with our new weapons?”

Ren scratched the back of his neck. “Ah, he did say that… I guess I got a little ahead of myself there, but we  _ do  _ need more tranquilizer bullets in the first place.”

“Wait, tranquilizer bullets? That sounds like an oxymoron…” Shiho muttered in confusion, which prompted Ren to move over to a box of ammo. He reached in to take out a pistol magazine, carefully removed a tranquilizer bullet, and held it up for her to see.

“Yeah, it does sound pretty weird. But it’s new technology apparently, developed around 10 months ago.” He pointed to a needle on the tip of the round. “This guy here is what administers the goodnight juice, and the rounds themselves are a little flatter and fire slower than a normal round to prevent actually causing bullet wounds in targets. Pretty neat stuff, huh?”

Makoto scowled. “You can thank the police department for that. They wanted some way to neutralize people without actually causing damage to them. I wasn’t supposed to admit it before but seeing I’m no longer there, I may as well. They were in development for a couple of years, and at first the results were… disastrous, to say the least.”

Shiho looked from the bullet, back to Makoto, then back to the bullet. “I see… And based on your attitude towards it, I won’t pry. But-”

She was cut off by the sound of a microphone tap resounding throughout the room.

_ “Yo, is this thing on? Ah, who am I kidding, of course it’s on. What do y’all think of my intercom system? Pretty cool, huh?” _

“When did she even-” Ren started, but was cut off by Futaba’s voice again.

_ “Of course it’s cool, I rigged it up! Just had to do some wiring with the already existing sound system. Anyway, everyone should come to the command room. I found our guy.” _

The three in the shooting range exchanged impressed glances.

“That was only what, an hour? She can find people hidden away that quickly?” Shiho asked, mystified.

Ren smirked in response. “That’s my sister for you. Now c’mon, let’s not keep the gremlin waiting.”

\----------

“Welcome to my secret lair!”

“...Futaba, it’s ain’t secret if we all know about it.”

“You wanna be kicked out of my secret lair, bonehead?!”

Ren couldn’t resist a chuckle behind his facepalm.

The group had gathered in the command room, which Futaba had practically all but taken it over for herself. Her computer and several monitors dominated a wall of the room, one of them flickering between different cameras that showed views of the hideout, the bar, and the alleyway outside. Another one showed a music channel playing lofi hip hop, the peaceful music resounding throughout the entire room. However, the third and fourth screens were what the thieves had their attention directed to. One of them showed a picture of a male, and the other was on a webpage for the Kirijo Group.

“Tada!” said the gremlin as she swept her hands over the two monitors with the information she had been after. “The Kirijo Group really likes to hide their shit, but I finally found our guy. At least, I think it’s him.”

“You  _ think  _ it’s him? What if we got the wrong guy?” Ann asked, tilting her head.

Futaba merely shrugged. “It’s not like they got an employee list lying around somewhere on the net. All that stuff’s gonna be on a separate server in their HQ for sure. Maybe a raid is in our future!”

“Perhaps, but let’s direct our attention to our primary suspect. Who is this?” Sae narrowed her eyes at the image of the man, as if he would jump out of the monitor and attack them.

“This is Seta Hishiro! He’s ex-yakuza and now a member of the Kirijo Group. They keep themselves under such tight security that even I have absolutely no idea what he does, actually. The only way I could find him was because we were given his number. The picture and name took a little digging, and the rest of the information took me going to the dark net again. Which, can I add, I hate going to? I know we have to do it for the team but there’s some really scaring shit out there, ya know.”

Ren placed a hand on Futaba’s shoulder. “We won’t have you go there any more than you need to. But I do appreciate you taking this seriously.”

Futaba rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don’t get used to it. Anyway, once I got a hold of his name, everything else was a piece of cake.”

“Um, why didn’t we just call him?” Haru wondered aloud, which caused Futaba to go ‘pffffft’.

“Silly Haru! Actually making ourselves known when we’re trying to be sneaky beavers? That would be stupid!”

“...I think what the gremlin is saying is that Iwai didn’t want to give his name away for a reason. If he didn’t reveal himself to us, then we shouldn’t do the same either. And there’s also the part when he told me specifically not to speak to him.” Ren corrected, flicking Futaba in her temple.

While the younger Sakura turned on her brother and started bickering, Makoto sighed. “So, if we shouldn’t even get in contact with him, then I guess we’ll need to go to the next best thing to get the information we want.”

“And what is this next best option that you are proposing?” Yusuke put a hand to his chin.

Makoto took a deep breath, before starting slowly. “...It would be to break into his home and search his belongings. He’ll have to have something related to his work at home, I’m sure.” 

“A break-in, huh? I’m so excited; now it’s time to be real thieves!” Shiho grinned, and the Phantom Thieves collectively gave her a look.

Her grin faded just as quickly as it appeared. “What? Can I not be excited about this?”

At that, Ren chuckled. “I guess you haven’t been on a bonafide heist. Paradise was… a bit unorthodox.” His voice suddenly then dropped, and Shiho could sense hesitance behind his words. “Although I’m hesitant on putting you out in the field without Metaverse powers, Shiho...”

Nobody said anything, and an awkward silence ensued for the next several seconds. Makoto spoke up to break it.

“...Regardless, this is still our first proper break-in in the real world.” Makoto reminded the group. “We’ll need to tackle this differently than our usual methods. For one, we’ll need as much information as we can get. Going blind can be the difference between life and death now.”

“Geez, Mom-koto, we get it!” Futaba complained with a roll of her eyes. “And that’s what the stuff I dug up is for! Check this out, apparently he has security cameras set on both doors…”

And with that, the thieves got to planning.

\----------

Shiho could not sleep that night.

It had been an hour of staring up at the ceiling of the bedroom before the girl had enough. Carefully dislodging herself from her position between the bodies of Ren and Makoto, Shiho silently slipped out of the bed the three shared. She threw on her sweatpants that were on the floor by the bed, made sure her tank top she slept in was at least decently presentable, then silently slid out of the room. 

The main room was still somewhat-lit despite the time of night, a precaution that the thieves opted for to ensure nobody could sneak in without being seen by the cameras. Shiho made her way through the dim lighting to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, but realized that the light was on in the shooting range. As she sipped her water she walked over to the lightswitch outside the range, flicking it off.

Shiho turned around to go back to the kitchen area but stopped short when she heard a squeal come from the inside of the range, followed by a crash and the sound of equipment following over. Quickly, she threw herself against the wall of the range, out of sight of the glass door. Her breathing quickened and she downed the rest of her water, flipping the glass so she could use it as a blunt weapon. The door opened, she raised the glass with the resolve to bring it down on the unknown intruder…

And fell short when she found herself staring into the eyes of Haru, who was looking back at her with a confused look on her face.

“Did you turn the lights out, Shiho-chan?” She asked innocently, cocking her head to the side. In one hand, she was holding the same P90 assault rifle that Sae had used during their night at Paradise.

“Y-Yes, sorry! I didn’t realize anyone was in there, and just thought the light was left on.” Shiho replied with a sheepish laugh. “I am curious though, what are you doing up so late in the shooting range?”

“Ah, I see. All is forgiven, then!” The floof said, smiling warmly back at her. “As for your question, I am practicing with firearms that I am less familiar with. It would be better for me to be able to handle any weapon in a given situation, especially since I favor the grenade launcher. I don’t want any friendly fire!”

Shiho looked down with a complicated look. “That makes sense, I suppose…”

Haru bent downward a little, looking up into Shiho’s face. “Is there something wrong, Shiho-chan?”

The girl in question looked back up, then at the range, then at Haru. 

_ I won't just sit idly and be helpless… _

“Haru, do you mind if I practice with you? I want to become a better shot.”

Haru’s face lit up as if she had been asked by her dream crush to marry her. “Oh, of course Shiho-chan! I have much to teach you about the world of weapons!”

Before she knew what was happening, Shiho’s arm was grabbed by the excited young woman, and she was dragged into the shooting range.

\----------

It had been about an hour and a half before the duo called it for the night, leaving the pellet-riddled targets out on the range due to a mixture of tiredness and laziness. They made their way to the kitchen to grab a drink before bed, Haru opting for decaf tea while Shiho downed another glass of water.

"You know, Shiho-chan…" Haru began in between sips, "You already have quite the aim. Your marksmanship with your sniper rifle was excellent, much better than I could ever hope for!"

Shiho felt herself blush slightly at the compliment. "Thank you. I owe it all to Ren - we would go out to play paintball and airsoft together a lot, and I stuck with practicing my aim every once in a while after high school."

Haru smiled a sort of smile that made Shiho feel like she said the wrong thing. "And that is my point, Shiho-chan. Your aim is among the best of us, so why do you feel the need to practice so vigorously? You already practiced earlier today, and your aim was just as good."

She paused, and when Shiho didn't say anything, Haru decided to hammer the nail home. "Shiho-chan, you're displeased with the fact that you do not have a persona, am I correct? And because of that, you do not have any special powers that would allow you to partake on missions with the rest of us?"

Shiho still stayed silent, and that told Haru all she needed to know.

"Shiho-chan, I promise we'll get you your persona. There has to be a way."

The ravenette took a deep breath and ran her free hand through her hair. "For my sake Haru, I hope I do too."

Haru gave her a look. "I understand. Just please, don't do anything stupid, ok?"

To her surprise, Shiho smirked sarcastically as she turned on her heel, walking back to her bedroom. "No promises."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heist time coming up! It's been awhile since the last one so some action is definitely overdue, and I like to think I crafted a good chapter for next week. Although I do kinda think this one ended a bit abruptly, but I seriously didn't know how to 
> 
> On the topic of upcoming chapters, I will be on vacation the week after next! So there will be an upload next Friday, but there will not be one the Friday after that.


	30. Breaking and Entering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: There will be no post next week, as I'm gonna be on vacation! The next post will be Friday, September 11th.

A year ago, if somebody told Ann that she would be breaking into a house with a cat using superpowers in order to find clues as to why one of her closest friends took a bullet to the head and only got a headache, she would have laughed. The Metaverse had been gone for 5 years at that point - why would something happen now, let alone in the real world?

But instead of being on the set of a photoshoot, or answering questions for an article in a tabloid magazine, she was leaning on a wall around the corner in one of the countless alleys of Tokyo, waiting said a talking cat to come and brief her of the situation.

To look the part, Ann had gone with all black, tighter-fitting clothing, as well as a hood that covered the majority of her face. Her hair was fixated in a tight bun on the back of her head, hidden behind the hood. And truth be told, Ann liked the hairdo a lot. Perhaps wearing it more often in the future would be in order. Especially given her trademark pigtails would make her stand out like a sore thumb, no matter where she was. 

Despite black being her color of choice for fashion, it was also picked for the obvious reason of camouflage against the darkness of the night. And with her back leaning into the wall she was up against, the normal human eye would have no hope of finding her amidst the shadows whilst commanding the powers of cognition.  _ Such a pity though, I look absolutely stylish… Although I’m missing something. _

Ann reached into her pocket and pulled out a stick of gum. Throwing it into her mouth, she chewed for a decent while until she could begin to blow bubbles.

_ There.  _ Now  _ I look like a total femme fatalle badass! _

She spent a few minutes in that position, patiently waiting until a few minutes later, when Morgana popped into view around the corner. “Lady Ann, Futaba was right. There’s no way to get access to those cameras unless we find the hub inside. It seems like we won’t catch a break in pedestrians either, there are too many.”

“And we can’t wait too late, because we found out he’s normally home at night-”

_ “Duh, of course I’m right!”  _ Futaba’s delayed reaction cackled over the two’s earpieces, interrupting the blonde.  _ “If it wasn’t on its own hardware network, I would have hacked it by now!” _

A couple holding hands passed by the entrance of the alleyway, and Ann waited until they were out of earshot to speak up. “So, we definitely need to find the hub, or whatever it’s called. Then we delete the evidence?

_ “Ye. Although if they have some fancy Kirijo shit then there might be trouble. I’ve never managed to hack a Kirijo server before, it’s way too over the top complicated! Why can’t they be easy like all the major government networks? _

That caught Ann off guard, the bubble she was in the middle of blowing popping prematurely. “Wait, seriously? Then what if the flashdrive you gave us is absolutely useless?”

The model could practically hear Futaba rolling her eyes through her voice.  _ “Only the actual Kirijo servers! But this time it’s a password cracker so you can do your own poking around on the computer. There also might be some other stuff worth manually downloading besides non-accessible Kirijo data, like his hentai collection - that’s a must!. Then after that you just destroy the computer, or whatever it is! Doesn’t really matter how you do it, as long as you don’t show who you are.” _

Ann chose to completely ignore Futaba’s request. “Right. Because more likely than not, the Kirijo Group is going to find out about this one way or another.” She groaned, earning a surprise yelp from a brown-haired, twin pig-tailed woman who was walking past the alleyway, stunned to hear somebody speak yet nobody actually there; in her eyes, that is.

She held back a chuckle while Morgana pawed at her leg. “Enough chit-chat, we’re burning time! Just pull that black mask up over your face, nobody would be able to figure out who you are anyway. And at least Futaba was able to cut the alarm.”

_ “Thank God all house alarms are connected to emergency services. It makes it alllllll too easy to find a backdoor, muehehehehe!” _

Ann blew another bubble. “...Evil gremlin aside, are you two really sure that nobody will think of me picking the lock being anything out of the ordinary?”

Morgana gave his best cat shrug. “As long as you don’t take forever, people would just think it’s the homeowner having difficulty with the key. Fortunately, you learned from two of the best over the past several days!”

Ann rolled her eyes, but she was also smiling. “One of them taught me. The other just batted my hand whenever I messed up.”

“It’s good to know when you make mistakes!”

“But not getting any constructive criticism doesn’t help!”

_ “Shut uuuuuup you two. I- oh shit, Ren and Mom-koto just got here, they’re hopping on the comms now. NO, Ren stop touching th-!” _

Ann reached up to her ear and pulled the earpiece out to grant her some peace and quiet. Popping her bubble and her hands in hoodie pockets, she kicked off the wall and calmly walked out into the night.

\----------

_ “Don’t you dare do that again, Panther! I swear to-” _

“Yeah, yeah. Just stop arguing all the time and I won't…” Panther muttered through the black mask over her lower face in response, most of her attention on the lock she was currently picking. Meanwhile, Mona watched her back while acting as innocent as a cat could possibly be. Since he wasn't on the list of wanted thieves, they doubted their adversary knew of his existence. That, or he wasn't considered a fully-fledged member.

He sincerely hoped it was the former.

"Panther, people are starting to look at you…" The cat mewled from his position perched on a fence not too close to her to avoid suspicion. But when he heard a metallic click coming from the door, he hopped down from his spot immediately.

"You were saying? C'mon, let's go!" Panther hissed at her partner in crime, ushering Mona through the door before sliding in herself, locking it behind her as she slid her lockpick back into a small pouch on her outfit.

_ "Nice! Ok, we don't know much about this guy's floor plan but his townhouse has 3 stories. No idea where all his stuff is, so let the scavenger hunt begin!"  _ Oracle chuckled over the comms, and Panther could hear Queen sighing.

_ "It would be best if you two split up to cover more ground. You should have around 30 minutes, so plenty of time to search the place before you need to worry." _

The two nodded to each other, Mona heading down the stairs in the main landing while Panther went up. "I still don't understand why we picked me and Mona over Joker and Oracle, couldn't Joker have used his Third Eye and Oracle could do all her hacking stuff?"

_ "I couldn't come because I'm most likely on the Kirijo Group's radar due to my identity being known to the public. We can't risk me being seen, it would give away our current game plan. And Oracle is needed here, at her setup." _

_ "Yeah! Plus, my sneak stat is really low compared to everyone else's. I peaked when I drove a knife into that one asshole's back a month or two ago." _

Panther was unsure how to respond to that exactly, so she just let it go without saying anything. Still though, she couldn’t stop her mind from wandering as she entered a bedroom and began searching for anything that could be of use.

The model might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but very much like her boyfriend, Panther was far from inept when it came to reading social cues. To her, it was plain as day how Noir had apparently completely brushed off the fact that she murdered 3 people, and Oracle didn’t seem to care too much about it either. And while Panther didn’t exactly know what that would entail for the group, she hoped to God that Joker would sort them out. He always does.

The thief shook her head to remind herself to focus at the task at hand, rifling through any container or cabinet that her gloved hands could find. She was searching through a closet when Mona’s voice sounded over the comms.

_ “Got it! I found a game and office room that has gaming consoles and a computer. It looks kinda like the one Oracle has, honestly.” _

“Cool! I’m coming down now.” Panther replied, ditching her current searching in favor of joining Mona on the first floor. When she entered the room, the blonde found him staring at a computer screen, eyes narrowed. His ears perked and he turned to face Panther, despite her making as little noise as possible.

“You got Oracle’s flash drive? We’ll need to see what’s on this thing.”

“Yup!” She flashed a usb drive in front of Mona before plugging it into one of the slots on the desktop. The two stood back and watched the screen boot up on its own, showing a standard Windows login screen.

“Hmm, nothing special going on here…” Panther began, but raised her eyebrows when the password bar began filling itself with characters. And one very long encrypted password later, they found themselves staring at the home screen. Mona’s head raised in glee.

“All right! Panther, see what’s going on in here. I’ll look around the rest of this room.”

The young woman nodded in response as she sat down at the desk, pulling out a small camera which she set down in front of her on the desk. She pressed a button, and after a few seconds a red light beeped on the top, signifying a live feed was being sent out.

_ “We got eyes on the prize!”  _ Oracle said excitedly, making Panther smile.  _ “Let’s start by going through the basic stuff. What sort of files are in his recents tab? Those would be frequented the most.” _

“Let’s see… Here’s the recents folder. It's all just a bunch of documents. Does anything catch your eye? Freeform writing, a shopping list, plans for an upcoming vacation...”

_ “Who writes their shopping list down in a word document? Do some snooping!” _

Panther scoffed but clicked on the shopping list file to reveal that in fact, it was an ordinary shopping list of groceries.

_ “What the hell? What kinda weirdo does that?” _

Panther chuckled as Joker answered for her.  _ “It doesn’t matter. We’re on a time limit, so let’s keep things moving. Are there any .exe files that launch applications that could be interesting to look at?” _

_ “Oh, good call Joker! Have the computer search for executables!” _

Panther did as requested, and while the computer did its search, she opted to look around the rest of the office with Mona. They didn’t find anything of particular interest, aside from a couple of Kirijo Group memorabilia such as a pen and a small-scale model of their headquarters, the impressive front entrance of the model building staring down the two from its position on a shelf overlooking the desk.

“Huh, that’s kind of cool… I know Joker showed us pictures of the HQ but this model really does it justice.” Panther absentmindedly said, picking it up and examining it closely. 

And then Panther  _ felt _ the model vibrate, just ever so slightly.

She dropped it in surprise, the fragile object cracking into several pieces. Mona whipped around from his spot watching the computer, eyes ablaze. “What the hell did you do?! How are we gonna replace that, Panther?”

“Shut up! Shut up a sec!” Panther hissed back at him and knelt down to the now broken model. She grabbed it with both hands and closed her eyes, honing her senses. Within her, Hecate obliged; her hearing sharpened, and just barely, she heard the shutter of a camera click.

Without second thought, the thief threw it down on the floor and stomped on it as hard as she could. Thanks to her enhanced strength, the model shattered into countless pieces, but what was still miraculously somewhat intact was a tiny circuit board with what looked like a tiny camera lens on one end. A green light was beeping at odd intervals with reasons unknown to the duo.

Mona immediately caught on, his eyes widening. “We screwed up, They caught us on tape! Destroy the camera before it sends the data somewhere else!”

Another curbstomp shut down the device for good, but the unease was far from erased between the two in the building, as well as the three back at home base.

_ “Oracle, please tell me that didn’t just transmit images to the Kirijo Group.” _

_ “...Sorry, Queen, but I’d be lying if I said I knew the answer to that.” _

Oracle’s admission made Joker curse under his breath.  _ “Just get out of there, then. We have no idea if somebody is being sent to your location, and I don’t want to risk it.” _

“But we’re nowhere near finished with this computer! If we leave now, then we’d have done nothing except put ourselves on their radar!” Mona argued back as he looked at the list of executables that popped up in the file search. “Look, there’s an application called KGP.exe! This has to be something!”

Panther took a look at the screen, then at the destroyed camera, then at the computer itself. “Hey Oracle, if the electronics are destroyed or unplugged, then they would have no way of tracing it, right?”

_ “I mean I guess, unless these guys have some wicked crazy high level technology that’s way outta the current standard. Why?” _

Taking that as a confirmation, Panther scooped up the remnants of the destroyed microcamera and slid it into her pouch. “If they know we’re here, we may as well just take everything, right? Even if we don’t find anything else, Kirijo Group equipment would be pretty cool to have!”

_ “...Perhaps. Oracle, is it possible to reverse engineer the equipment? I’d bet that they make their own stuff all in-house, so we might learn something.”  _ Joker proposed, which caused Oracle to sigh loudly.

_ “I’m a hacker, not an engineer, Joker.” _

_ “But you graduated from university with a degree in electrical engineering.” _

_ “Dual major, mind you! I wasn’t as passionate about it like I am with CS, so don’t forget it! But fiiiiiine, I’ll see what I can do. Bring it on home, Panther!” _

Meanwhile, Mona was much too preoccupied to notice the ongoing discussion, his head peeking cautiously out a window. “Uhh, Panther? I’m seeing movement outside! Looks like a few police officers, but their uniform looks kinda different? Maybe Kirijo Group personnel?”

Panther cursed under her breath. “That was fast! Oracle, does our half-completed floor plan show a possible exit somewhere?”

_ “Yeah, the kitchen in the back of the first floor has a window that overlooks the alleyway behind the townhouse. Get there quick before you’re surrounded!” _

Hearing a promise of a somehow clean escape, Panther picked up the pace. She ripped out any cord that was attached to the desktop, and hoisted it up under her arm. Fortunately, it was more on the compact side, and while it was most likely heavy, her Metaverse strength meant that to her, it weighed no more than an empty box. 

The cat and human duo darted back into the kitchen just as they heard the front door open above them, followed by a police officer barking orders. “Spread out, they could have hidden anywhere in the house!”

That seemed to make Panther panic a little, who instead of opening the window and slipping out like a silent thief would, made a running jump shoulder-first into the glass. It shattered without a lick of resistance and she fell into the narrow alleyway, Mona close behind. While quick, their escape was too loud for their pursuers not to notice, and the two heard shouting coming from within the house.

And then a flashlight blinded their eyes.

Panther found herself facing down the barrel of a pistol pointed directly at her, a Kirijo personnel who had hidden under the window as the wielder.

“FREEZE! Drop the computer, remove your mask and hood, and come with us quietly! Compliance with us will lessen the extent of your sentence.”

The thief’s eyes flicked down at the pistol, and while she was desperately searching for an answer to his demand, noticed a small black shadow slinking out and around the window. Underneath her mask, Panther grinned and stood up straight. May as well be the flashy, confident Phantom Thief that she was to distract him!

“Sorry, but I have a schedule to keep and a date with my boyfriend after this, so maybe next time, ok?”

Before the officer could respond, Panther watched Mona ram his head into the personnel’s legs, the unexpected force combined with Mona’s strength knocking him over instantly. He landed on his back and was about to get up when the cat jumped on his stomach, meowing at him innocently.

“A cat…?”

Mona tilted his head to the side, raised a paw, then promptly punched the personnel in the forehead. He went out like a light, his head falling back to the ground.

Panther giggled at the sight. “I bet the last thing he expected was to be knocked out by-”

“FREEZE! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!”

The duo stood up straight and quickly scanned their surroundings to find Kirijo personnel on both ends of the alleyway, closing in slowly. Panther and Mona instinctively backed closer to each other, the cat hissing.

_ “You guys are completely surrounded, and there’s enemies in the house!”  _ Oracle’s frantic voice came over the comms.  _ “You’re gonna have to do something drastic to get out of there! Punch through a wall or something!” _

“You idiot, we can’t just reveal our powers like that!” Mona replied, his fur standing on end.

Meanwhile, the Kirijo personnel were only mere meters away from them, their flashlights and guns still steadily trained on the two.

“Mona, if we don’t do something crazy we’re gonna be captured!” Panther retaliated in Oracle’s stead. Taking a deep breath, the blonde picked up the feline with her free hand, placing on him on her shoulder, and scooted her back against the wall, blending herself in with the shadows of the night.

Fortunately, it seemed to have an effect. “W-What? Where did they go?” One of the officers cried out and stopped moving. “Did they just flat out vanish?”

One of the other officers growled and pushed forward, beelining towards where Panther and Mona disappeared into. “They must have some sort of cloaking device! Rush their position!”

And at that, Panther knew she needed to act fast. She looked at the rooftops, took another deep breath, and leaped with all her might towards the wall on the opposite side of the alleyway.

From her standing position, Panther could only surmount around 12 feet of height, but it was more than enough to meet the other wall about 10 feet off the ground. As soon as she was close enough, she pressed her free hand and the foot closest to the wall into the brick. With another burst of force, Panther pushed herself off the wall in the form of a wall jump, her legs and free arm flailing through the air.

Time seemed to slow down for her as she heard the officers down below recover from their shock and call the command to open fire, the distance from her destination extending into an impossible stretch. Her world became focused on her task in front of her - reaching the safety of the rooftop only a couple of meters away, even though it felt like miles.

But as the bullets started to whiz by her, Panther realized she was going to fall just short of her possible reach for the rooftop. She would have to make another wall jump.

“PANTHER!” Mona screamed at the top of his lungs and kicked out of his grip on her shoulder. He pushed off his comrade, gaining enough distance to make the rooftop with his two front arms while stretching his back legs out. Fortunately, Panther caught onto his idea immediately. She brought her arm forward and grabbed onto Mona’s back legs as she crashed into the wall, knocking the wind out of her. 

Then, two things happened simultaneously.

The first was that Mona used all his strength to pull the two of them over onto the rooftop in one fluid motion, Panther’s body flying up and over the edge of the roof. She landed on her back with another harsh thud that prevented her from regaining the breath she just lost seconds before.

The second was the sudden yet very quickly blooming pain in her abdomen, causing her to drop the computer under her arm. It tumbled down to the alleyway below, now recovered by the Kirijo personnel. 

With their very temporary safety bought, Panther risked a glance down to her stomach, and blanched.

Her black hoodie was starting to turn red from where she had been shot in the stomach.

She looked up at Mona with a terrified look on her face, only to see that he was just as shocked. But fortunately, he was quick to recover. “P-Panther! We need to get out of here! Can you stand?”

The blonde wordlessly pushed off the ground, surprised at how little effort she used despite a hole in her stomach. “It h-hurts a lot, but I’ll be ok.” She winced, pressing a hand to her abdomen while the two looked around for an escape. 

_ “I found you on the rooftops, I have eyes up there! H-Head south, there’s a few buildings that are close together and are in the o-opposite direction of the fuzz!”  _ Came Oracle’s panicked voice over the phone, and in the background Panther could hear Joker shouting to the rest of the team about getting ahold of Takemi.

The two looked in the mentioned direction then set off at the fastest pace Panther could muster. Surprisingly, Panther found that either she was much tougher than she thought, or her Metaverse strength was really coming through, but either way the bullet in her stomach didn’t hinder her movement much at all.

As the two managed to lose their pursuers via clearing gaps on rooftops that would be impossible for a normal human, Panther swore that she would give Lavenza the biggest hug she would ever receive once she got back.

\----------

_ “Ok, it looks like both police and Kirijo chatter has gone quiet for now. We’re in the clear.” _

Upon hearing Futaba’s confirmation of their safety, Ann slumped against the HVAC unit servicing Takemi’s building in exhaustion. Despite not feeling too terrible overall, she was breathing very heavily, and the red splotch on her stomach had grown much larger, to the point of what looked like serious blood loss - which she already knew would be unrecoverable by the means of healing magic from Lavenza. The hour or so of them running across the buildings of Tokyo had taken its toll on her. 

Morgana looked on with worry while he paced back and forth.“It’s been half an hour, where’s Takemi? She was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago!”

His prayers were conveniently answered with the emergence of Ren from the building’s rooftop access. “Tae’s here and prepared. Ryuji came with me as well. She’s going to remove the bullet with what she has in the clinic, but she doesn't have anesthesia on hand…”

Ann waved the thought off, a little loopy from the loss of blood. “Doesn matter, jus doo it already. I’m tired, but I don feel bad...”

“Shit, that’s not good… C’mere.” Ren bit his lip as he bent down, easily picking up Ann bridal style. “Let’s get you downstairs.”

Ann was mostly silent as the three made the trip downstairs, but there was one final thing she did say before going into the exam room with a very worried-looking Ryuji. He took her off of Ren, fighting back tears as he took in her condition.

“I sory I didn get computer…” She slurred breathlessly, her eyes looking a little glossy. “But I did got camra…” 

“Ugh, who cares?” Ryuji stammered, now unable to hold back from crying any longer. “That doesn’t matter. Just stay awake for me, Ann…”

Ren merely nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat as Takemi, Ann, and Ryuji all went into the exam room, leaving Morgana and Ren behind to wait in the waiting room.

The minutes passed, and neither of them said anything for awhile.

…

…

“Some thieves we are, huh.” Morgana all but whimpered, head hanging low. “We can’t do anything right in the real world…”

Ren placed a reassuring hand on the cat’s head, but Morgana could tell his heart just wasn’t in it. “We’re good, but we’re not perfect. We're gonna bounce back from this. She'll be ok. We'll learn as we go, and I-I'll be sure to lead them well.”

Despite him trying to sound confident, it was clear as day Ren was saying it more to himself as a reassurance than his cat.

“Learning as we go may have gotten one of us killed, Ren.” Morgana shot back, and it was only after the words left his mouth did he realize what he actually said.

“...”

_ Shit.  _ “Ren?”

The ravenette in question took a deep breath. Standing up, he faced a wall, raised a fist, and punched effortlessly through the drywall with a pained grunt.

Several seconds later, Ryuji popped his head out from the exam room. “Hey, is-”

He fell short when his eyes fell on Ren with his hand still in the drywall. And when he looked up to meet Ryuji’s eyes with his, they were filled with such a harsh rage that all he could do was swallow the bile in his throat.

“I uh… I’ll just go.” He said dumbly, and closed the door.

Even Morgana was uncomfortable, doing his best to avert his eyes to avoid looking at his best friend. It took a minute or two, but the cat finally did think of something to say.

“We couldn’t have anticipated it, Ren. It’s not your fault. I’m sorry I said that.”

Ren remained silent, but it would have been impossible for Morgana to miss the tears falling down his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I think about it, that's a bit of a brutal cliffhanger to leave y'all on when there won't be a post next week... Whoops!
> 
> There's a lot of stuff to unpack in this chapter if you know where to look, and while it's not one of the longest chapters, I feel like it's definitely one of the most impactful. We see some desperation and powerful emotions in play, and I'm interested to see everyone's thoughts.
> 
> All that aside, wow we are sooo close to 10K hits! With the rate people read this story it probably won't happen for another couple of weeks, but I still wanted to say thanks to everyone who's read this far and stuck with the story. I have an absolute blast writing it, and seeing people's comments every week when a new chapter comes out only fuels my desire to write more.
> 
> So, thank you very much everyone, and see you all with the next upload in 2 weeks!


	31. New Players

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I was gone this story hit 10K views AND got added to a collection! Thanks for all the support, everyone, that's insane!

It was late night by the time she could finally go home.

She stifled a yawn and flicked her brown twin pigtails out of her hair while she fished for her keys, and from the other side of the door, she could hear voices arguing within.

“Souji, can you set the table for dinner?”

“I did it yesterday! Can’t Akira do it instead?”

“No way! I’m helping dad cook!”

“No you’re not, you’re just standing there and watching him cook!”

The woman chuckled, and turned the key. As she entered the kitchen, she saw her husband standing over a pot, stirring, while their two children argued back and forth.

“Now now, what’s all this arguing about?” She asked in an amused voice.

The two young siblings Akira and Souji stood up straight at the sound of the woman’s voice entering the room, both turning to the source.

“Mom!”

Rise Kujikawa stood in the entrance to the kitchen, a hand on her hips and a fond smile on her face. “How about we all set the table together, once the food is ready? If everybody pitches in, then it’ll take no time at all!”

Her children mumbled in agreement as Rise set down her purse on the kitchen counter, stretching while walking up to her husband.

“Hello, darling.” She said with a smile, planting a short kiss on his lips, which he reciprocated in kind.

Yu Narukami flashed a grin once they parted, turning his attention back to a pot of stir fry he was stirring. “Hey, Rise. Good day today?”

“Yup! Long day, too. I spent several hours total in the booth, and my singing voice is totally shot.” She replied, plopping into one of the bar stools situated at their kitchen counter. Akira came up to her and she threw her arms around him in a hug. “At least I have the next few days off while production does their thing.”

“Oh perfect, so does that mean you’ll watch the kids for me?”

Rise nodded her head tiredly, ruffling Akira’s hair. “Sure thing. Did Naoto finally come through with that cold case?”

“Yeah. She took a look through the evidence and found something worth looking into. We’re gonna meet up and go through it all tomorrow.”

“That’s exciting! It’s been a few months since you’ve picked up a cold one. Private Investigator Yu Narukami is on the case!” She beamed, and in her lap, Akira giggled.

“Dad’s the best private investigator ever!”

“I dunno, I think auntie Naoto is better! She’s solved way more cases than dad has!” Souji retorted, climbing up onto the barstool next to Rise so he could see over the counter. Akira went to protest, but Yu interrupted him with a shrug.

“Souji’s right. Naoto does have more cases solved, but that’s what I get when I specialize in solving cold cases.”

Rise smirked and winked at Yu. “I think you’re a better detective than Naoto is.”

“You just say that to get on my good side.”

“Well, did it work?”

Yu shrugged, gesturing around to their 3-bedroom Tokyo highrise apartment they lived in, the ring on Rise’s finger, and their two children. “Pretty sure the answer should be obvious.”

Before Rise could reply, the sound of her phone going off came from her purse. She sighed, yet still dug into her purse to find her phone. “Sorry, but I need to take this. I was supposed to get a call sometime tonight about a commercial deal coming up.”

When she did pull out her phone, her face brightened considerably.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Mitsuru-senpai!”

Yu made a slightly surprised face as Rise picked up the phone. “Hi there, Mitsuru-senpai!”

“Hiiii auntie Mitsuru!” Both Akira and Souji yelled in hopes that the phone would pick them up.

_“Hello, Rise, Akira, Souji. I apologize for calling you this late at night when you’ve surely had a busy day, but Yu didn’t pick up his phone.”_

Rise’s brow furrowed as he looked up at Yu. “She says she called you but you didn’t answer.”

“Ah, sorry. My phone’s on charge in the bedroom. Akira was on it all afternoon so the battery was drained.”

“Yu says his phone was in the other room.” Rise relayed. “Anyway, what’s up?”

_“Do you two have any plans for tomorrow?”_

“Oh, Yu was going to meet with Naoto to discuss a cold case. Why?”

_“Perfect, Naoto can come as well. I’m afraid I’ve come across something that is worthy of code SOS.”_

Rise’s eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly. “A-Are you sure? It’s been years since the last time…”

At hearing that, Yu whipped his head from the stir fry pot to Rise. “Wait, what? What is it?”

_“I’m positive. I’d rather discuss the details in person, if that works with you two.”_

Rise covered a hand over her phone mic, looking towards Yu. “She’s asking to meet tomorrow to talk about something maybe on the level of SOS, and to bring Naoto with us.”

“Wow, that must be serious…” Yu muttered as he turned off the heat for the stir fry. “I guess we can’t let it slide. I’ll text Naoto and let her know we have a change of plans. Tell Mitsuru we’ll be there.”

She nodded, and put the phone back to her ear. “Yu and I will be there.”

_“Trés bien! I will see you both tomorrow at 8 am at HQ.”_

“Should we let everyone else know? Although Yukiko, Chie, Youske and Teddie would all need to leave Inaba tonight if they wanted to be here by then…”

_“Then no need. We can phone them in if necessary, but I am mostly looking for fresh pairs of eyes to help me take a look at some footage. If it warrants so, we’ll call in the rest of the operatives.”_

“I see. Well, Yu and I will be there at 8 tomorrow morning. We’ll let Naoto know to meet us there, and she’ll probably bring Kanji too.”

_“Perfect. I’ll see you all then. Have a good night.”_

Mitsuru hung up before Rise could reply, making the woman sigh. “Never a dull day in our lives… I guess I’ll call the nanny in to watch the kids while we’re gone tomorrow?”

“Moooom, we’re 5! We’re big boys now!” Souji protested, to which Rise chuckled and pulled him in so she was holding both her children.

“You are both big boys! But not big enough juuuuust yet, sorry!”

Meanwhile, Yu sighed and narrowed his eyes as he plated the family’s dinner. “Still, that’s interesting. To think Mitsuru’s calling whatever this is worthy of code SOS... I wonder what it could be. We haven’t come across anything like that since 2016.”

“There’s barely been any activity since then, for that matter.” Rise agreed. “Which is a good thing, you know? Fighting an army of…” Her voice trailed off as she remembered the two kids sitting in her lap, who didn’t know much of anything about her and Yu’s secret.

“Do you have to do important stuff tomorrow?” Akira asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Yes, sweetie. Mommy and daddy are going to talk to auntie Mitsuru tomorrow about some adult things.”

“Is it like last year where you had to go to Kyoto for a week all of a sudden?” Souji chimed in.

Rise winced at the memory, the image of Yu with an open gash across his torso flashing through her mind. He seemed to notice, so he spoke up to snap her attention back to the present. “Dinner is plated, everyone. Souji, Akira, can you two set the table? I need to talk to your mom about the adult stuff.”

“Awww, ok daddy…” Souji sighed, and the two of them hopped off of Rise’s lap to head into the kitchen proper. Meanwhile, the two adults split off into the living room.

“A code SOS… Last time that happened, the Shadow Operatives had to fight an army of shadows invading Tokyo, while the others were protecting Inaba…” Yu said thoughtfully while scratching the side of his face. He looked at Rise, who was also deep in thought.

“...And when that thing in the sky was defeated by the Phantom Thieves, everything went back to normal.”

“Except we haven’t been able to summon our personas anymore, ever since then. Even if we use Evokers.” Yu reminded her.

“Yeah, but because of that, shadow activity has been kept to a minimum, aside from Kyoto last year. I wonder why now all of a sudden there’s a code SOS. Kyoto was just a code SO.”

“Hmm… It might be a hunch, but I have a feeling the Phantom Thieves’ resurgence is related to this.”

Rise blinked at him, a bit taken aback. “You think so? It’s not like anything has changed since they came back. I still feel the same, and we still haven’t been able to access the TV world. But I wonder if the Phantom Thieves are fighting against their enemy again, whatever it was.”

Yu cocked his mouth to the side, then ultimately sighed. “Either way, all this speculating won’t get us anywhere. Let’s just wait until tomorrow to-”

“Daddy! Daddy! Look what I did!” Akira interrupted as he ran into the room, presenting a very shaky attempt at what looked like an origami swan. “We’ve been waiting for you to come to dinner so I did some practicing. How did I do?”

“You better not tell him ‘you suck’ like you did to me, or you’re on the couch tonight, mister.”

Yu laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head while eyeing a pouting Rise to the side. “It looks great, Akira. Seems your practice is paying off.”

Satisfied, Akira ran off back to the kitchen, leaving the two alone. Yu sighed and Rise giggled before taking his hand, beginning the walk back to the kitchen.

“Origami aside, it’s no use thinking about all the SO stuff now. Whatever Mitsuru-senpai wants to show us will probably be something we won’t expect.”

“It always is.”

\----------

Several hours had passed before the door to the exam room was opened once again.

The noise was just enough to wake up Ren, who had fallen asleep laying on the chairs in the waiting room. He looked up while blinking rapidly to get the sleep out of his eyes, seeing Ryuji and Takemi closing the door behind them.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Morgana asked from his position on Ren’s stomach, standing up to stretch.

“He asked about her condition.” Ryuji translated as he yawned, then tilted his head once he realized something. “Hey, Morgana, can’t you do that shout-y thing you did back at Leblanc? Maybe Takemi would be able to understand you after that.

“Oh, that’s a good idea coming from you, Ryuji!”

“Hey!-”

“WE WILL TAKE THE WORLD!!!” Morgana belted out without second thought, causing Ren to sit up with a jolt, the offender yelping while jumping off his stomach just in time.

“Easy, Ren! I’m just yelling stuff, no big deal.” He said as Ren took in his surroundings fully, his shoulders relaxing once he realized where he was.

“Ugh, please don’t shout like that so close to me next-”

“Huh, so the cat really can talk.”

Ren blinked. “Um, come again?”

Takemi, ever the unphasable one, merely shrugged at the phenomenon of a talking animal. “Your cat. You always said he could talk, but now I’m hearing it for myself.”

“So that’s why you were yelling…” Ren muttered, swinging his legs off the chairs to sit upright. “Still though, is it really a good idea to just allow people to hear Morgana like that?”

Takemi shrugged once again, leaning back on the door. “I already knew, so it doesn’t make a difference. Anyway, your friend was pretty lucky. None of her vitals were damaged, but Sakamoto told me she was on the run for at least an hour. She lost a lot of blood during that time.”

“But she’s stable?” Ren asked hopefully, and relaxed further at Takemi’s nod.

“She should honestly be dead, yet the girl is alive and stable. Ordinarily I’d say she’ll be out of commission for the next few months at least, but I think there’s something else going on here that would change that.”

“You’re not too far off from that, we do have some… special capabilities.” Ren admitted. “Although we haven’t really tested how quickly we can heal from wounds without physical activity.”

“I would keep that to a minimum, yes.” Takemi agreed. “If you three- (“ahem!”) err, four, want to make it home safely though, I would advise you do so now before all the salarymen wake up for work.”

“That’s true. Lemme go wake up Ann, then.” Ryuji said, and Takemi opened the door for him to enter, closing it behind them for privacy reasons.

“I really wished you lot would only be coming to me for well-checks after that horrible sight on Christmas Eve…” Takemi breathed to nobody in particular, but her eyes locked onto Ren’s a few seconds later.

He could only shrug in response. “None of us asked for this. Back then, nor now. But we don’t have much of a choice.”

Takemi hesitated, but eventually hummed in acceptance. “Well, I’ll do what I can. Just don’t come back to me in two or more pieces.”

The door behind her budged, and she moved out of the way to allow Ryuji and Ann, who he was carrying bridal style across his chest. “She ain’t gonna wake up, it seems. I can carry her though; she’s as light as a feather. We ready to move out?”

Before Ren could say anything, Takemi reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out a few bottles of medicine. “Before you go, I’m sending some medicine with you. She needs to take it once in the morning and once in the evening, and her wound needs to be redressed and cleaned once a day. Infections don’t care about how physically strong you are. Now, go on and shoo. I hope I don’t see any of you again for a while.”

As they were leaving, Ren gave Takemi a slight bow. “Thank you a lot, Tae. We’re always in your debt.”

She dismissed his claim in a hurry. “I’ll forever be in your debt for saving the world. Say hi to Sae for me, please. I haven’t spoken to her in awhile.”

...

A few minutes later found the thieves jumping from rooftop to rooftop of the city, taking directions from Futaba on the quickest way back to the hideout.

“Hey Ren, why don’t you have Lavenza take a look at Ann? Can’t she like, Salvation him or something?” Ryuji asked in between jumping from building to building while Futaba planned the next leg back of their route.

“I thought about it, but our healing powers were never able to replace lost blood. She could probably close and clean the wound though, at the least.”

_“Ok, go 3 rooftops straight, then another left, then hop down and you’ll be at the alley. See you soon!”_

“Ya hear that, Ann? We’re almost home. Just hang in there…” Ryuji breathed to her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

“I’m gonna sleep for a whole day when we get home, I’m ready to pass out.” Morgana said, yawning. “Are we ready to make the final push?”

Everyone nodded, and forged the final stretch to get some well-earned rest for all of them.

\----------

“Yuuuuu, wake up! We’re gonna be late.”

“Umff, 5 more minutes…”

“Ugh, seriously? Do I have to rip the covers off the bed?” Rise threatened, grabbing the blankets while playfully pulling them up and down.

“Fine, fine! I’m up. Don’t deprive me of my cocoon, I can do it myself…” Yu muttered as he sat up in bed, only to see Rise fully dressed. “Wait, what time is it?”

“7:38, you sleepyhead. You’re lucky we live so close to Port Tatsumi.”

“Shit.” Yu grunted, jumping out of bed and making for the bathroom. “I’ll be ready in 5.”

Rise chuckled to herself, walking back into the kitchen to make a quick breakfast. “I know, that’s why I let you sleep in so late. Now, get up!”

Meanwhile, Yu just sighed. “I’m gonna be forever whipped, aren’t I?”

\----------

By the time Yu and Rise had found themselves looking up at the Kirijo Group HQ on Port Tatsumi Island, it was 7:58. Yu was about to comment on their ability to be punctual when needed, but instead he spotted two figures standing by the entryway to the main building.

“You’re late.” Naoto Shirogane said with her arms crossed, leaning against one of the windows that decorated the ground floor. Next to her stood her husband Kanji Tatsumi, who was doing his absolute best to stifle a massive yawn.

“Nah, we only got here a couple of minutes ago. Mornin’.”

“Kanji, if you’re not at least 5 minutes early, then you’re late!”

Rise giggled at the two, much to Naoto’s annoyance. “Never change, you two.”

Naoto sighed, but she wasn’t able to fully hide her blush. “R-Regardless, are we all ready to head in? Whatever Mitsuru-san has in store for us is going to be the real deal, so we better make sure we’re prepared.”

“We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.” Yu answered for him and his wife, who nodded in agreement.

And with that, the group of 4 entered the Kirijo Group HQ, both eager and uneasy about what they might learn inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought Chad Narukami and crew would get out of this one, did ya? And geez Rise, if you looked just a little harder last chapter you might have met the very object of what's getting you called into the Kirijo HQ!
> 
> Are the Kirijo Group enemies to the Phantom Thieves? Are they friends? Do they have an opinion at all about them? All will be revealed... in due time!


	32. Going to War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: depiction of self-harm.

Just as Ren predicted, not even Lavenza was able to fully nurse Ann back to health.

While her gunshot wound was fully cleaned and healed, the loss of blood was something even the Velvet Room attendant could not replace. 

Lavenza bit her lip as she stood over the sleeping form of Ann, hands clasped in front of her with her head hung low. “I am sorry I cannot do more to assist her. All I can suggest is to ensure she takes the medication the doctor prescribed. Perhaps that, combined with my lingering healing effects, will have a more positive impact on her.”

"It’s ok, Lavenza. You did all you could, and that’s all that matters.” Shiho said glumly as she gazed on the sleeping form of her best friend. “Not to mention that thanks to you, she’ll make a full recovery eventually.”

Lavenza smiled back at the other girl. “It is my pleasure to be of assistance. But for now, I must go. I am feeling quite tired after using so much healing magic…”

She closed her golden eyes, and several seconds later, they opened to reveal grey ones. Ren took in the sight of Ann on her bed, with Shiho at her side. The rest of the group was giving them space while Lavenza did her thing, even Ryuji backing off as he knew Shiho and Ann had a connection he didn’t.

Neither of them said anything as Ren slumped into a spare chair in the room, rolling his head back to look at the ceiling.

“Ren…?” Shiho asked apprehensively, not wanting to disturb him yet also wishing to gain his attention. 

"Shiho… I'm…" He trailed off while his face morphed into something complicated, then suddenly got up and exited the room without another word.

Shiho didn't even realize she was getting up to follow him until she was turning the doorknob, but before she got further the sound of shifting on the bed made her look back behind her.

"Shiho…?"

"Ann! You're awake!" Shiho exclaimed, Ren briefly forgotten as she ran to her best friend's side. "How are you feeling?"

Ann attempted to push herself upright, but ultimately only succeeded when Shiho helped her. "Well, nothing hurts, but I feel really weak. What happened?"

Shiho gently brushed away stray strands of hair out of Ann's face, doing her best to hold a smile. "You were taken to Takemi's and didn't get home until an hour or two ago. Lavenza healed your physical wound, but she couldn't replace all the blood you lost. That's why you feel so weak."

"Huh… well, at least now I have a good excuse to eat a lot of food, right?"

Shiho's smile brightened. "Yeah! We'll be sure to get you lots of meat and crepes."

"Aww, why not just crepes?"

"Because you need to eat protein to replace all the hemoglobin in your body. Trust me, as an athlete, I've been trained on how to take care of yourself."

"Ughhhh, you're no fun… by the way, Ren sounded kinda down when you-"

"Shit, I forgot! Sorry Ann but I gotta go find him,  _ now _ ."

Before Ann could respond, Shiho dashed out the room and ran headfirst into Makoto, who was reaching for the doorknob to Ann's room. She opened her mouth to speak, but Shiho cut her off.

"Where's Ren? He had  _ that _ look on him."

Makoto paled immediately. "I think he may have gone into our room, but i only saw a door shutting on my way here."

The two of them wordlessly jogged down the long hallway that housed most of the bedrooms and turned the corner to where the entrance to the master suite was. Without knocking, Makoto thrust open the door to reveal an empty bedroom. It looked like he had already left if it weren't for the faint sound of the sink running in the bathroom.

Makoto wasted no time advancing to the bathroom door and grabbing the knob, only to find it was locked. Panicking, she thumped against the door wildly. “Ren! Open up please, Shiho and I are here!"

There’s no response from the other side of the door for several seconds, but eventually the two girls hear the sound of the door unlocking. They exchanged a quick glance and opened the door slowly, hesitantly…

Red.

Ren’s upper left arm had blood dripping from his shoulder, reaching all the way down to his wrists in thin lines. The razor itself was still pressed into Ren’s shoulder as he looked at the two of him with tear-ridden eyes.

Makoto was too stunned to do anything at first, but fortunately Shiho reacted quickly. “Ren, please look at me, and take deep breaths…”

Ren did as he was told, the shaky hand on the razor allowing smaller cuts into his skin. As much as Shiho wanted to move quickly and take it away from him, any quick movements may have presented an adverse reaction.

Careful to move very slowly, Shiho’s hand was as steady as she could make it until her hand gently clasped around Ren’s. There was a bit of resistance at first, but after several seconds Ren finally relented wordlessly, allowing Shiho to pry his fingers off of the razer. As she set it down on the side of the bathtub, Shiho heard Makoto coming up behind her with a first-aid kit.

Nobody said anything while Makoto attended to Ren’s fresh cuts, the only signs of emotion being the silent tears falling down the three’s faces while they worked.

\----------

Makoto hadn’t seen Ren cut himself in years.

To be precise, she never really saw the actual happenings of it. But she was well aware of the scars on his shoulders, and the weight they bared on him. And while he’s been close at times, she had always been there to help him keep his head, and remember he was loved and cared about more than he would ever know.

But all of that flew out the window as Makoto held her tear-ridden boyfriend in her arms on the floor of their bathroom, Shiho putting away the first aid kit used to clean him up. The brunette pulled back from her tight hold, looking Ren directly in the eyes.

“Ren, I… I’m…” 

“...It’s all my fault.” His whisper came out so quietly, Makoto almost didn’t hear it. 

Shiho heard it loud and clearly, it seemed, as she bent down to sit on the floor alongside the duo. “What’s your fault, Ren?”

This time, when Ren spoke up, he was much more easily heard by the two girls. “It’s all my fault. I’m not f-fit to be a leader.”

“Ren, no leader is perfect, and it’s borderline impossible to keep us all unharmed forever. Please don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“No, Makoto, you d-don’t understand.” Ren replied through broken sobs. “I… I endorsed Haru.”

He didn’t need to elaborate for Shiho and Makoto to understand what he was implying. Shiho, who was out of range of Ren’s eyesight, couldn’t stop a horrified look from coming across her face. Meanwhile, Makoto did her absolute best to keep her own face neutral, but she herself had no words of comfort. What were you supposed to say in response to someone who endorsed the murder of three people?

Fortunately, Shiho seemed to have caught on to her plight. She wrapped her arms around Ren from the back, pulling him tightly into her embrace. “Forget that for right now. At this moment, I just want you to feel the love that Makoto and I have for you. Close your eyes, and remember that you aren’t alone, no matter what. Forever and always.”

Makoto nodded and scooted closer into Ren so the two women were sandwiching him in. “We can discuss that later. But Shiho’s right. For now, remember how many people love and care about you. We don’t want to see you hurt yourself like that, because when you hurt, we hurt too. And we just want you to be ok.”

Ren never responded, but his sobs did start to subside after receiving comfort from the two women he loved.

\----------

Yu Narukami led his group of 4 into the Kirijo Group HQ and made his way to the reception desk, where a young woman was typing away on a computer. As he drew closer, the woman looked up from her screen.

“Ah, Narukami-san. Kirijo-san informed me you would be coming in this morning. She’ll be down to collect you shortly. In the meantime, can I- oh, looks like you won’t need to be waiting, after all.”

As Yu followed her gaze at the sound of an elevator opening, a thick country accent resounded throughout the room. “Well if it ain’t Yu Narukami himself! And I see ya brought ya crew, too!”

The voice came from a very realistic human-looking robot with long, flowing white hair and a Yasogami school uniform which for some reason, she still has yet to ditch. A grin was plastered on her face as she took in the sights of the 4, who all smiled back in kind.

“Labrys! It’s great to see you again!” Rise exclaimed and moved forward to greet the robot girl with a hug. “How have you been?”

“Ah, ya know, Mitsuru’s just keepin’ me busy and all that during this slow time. I even had ta get her coffee one mornin’, yeesh. I think she’s becomin’ real bored. Well, except for what went down last night. Some interestin’ stuff, I tell ya!”

And that would be why we’re here.” Naoto confirmed. “Mitsuru-san alerted us of an incident given code SOS. The first one in several years.”

Labrys nodded her head. “Yup! Although I may as well say this now, it ain’t somethin’ that’s along the lines of Tokyo. No dire threat or instant need to protect anythin’. But to tell ya the truth, I think we found the first instances of supernatural powers in ova’ half a decade.”

“No way, are you sure that’s the truth?” Kanji asked, his eyes widening and his posture leaning forward.

“Looks like it ta me, at least. But c’mon, just come and see for yourselves!”

\----------

Mitsuru Kirijo was normally a very busy woman.

Namely, it was due to her dual leadership positions as both the head of the Kirijo Group, and the leader of the Shadow Operatives, an underground organization that combated any supernatural threat that endangered Japan. However, the past several years had been the quietest they have ever seen in terms of shadow activity, and by extension, Kirijo Group activity. It was hard to study shadows when you could barely find any in the first place.

Still, that didn’t stop the tech conglomerate from doing their own thing, and that wasn’t to say there were no incidents. The Kyoto crisis crossed the woman’s mind, and she effortlessly pushed that out of her head. While that was unexplainable, their current problem might have a sound theory behind it.

Her chair was turned back towards the massive window in her office overlooking Tokyo when the door opened without a knock first.

“Heya, boss! I brought ‘em up for ya.”

Mitsuru sighed with a smile on her face, and spun her chair around to face the intruders to the room. “Hello everyone. It has been awhile in terms of business meetings, hasn’t it?”

Kanji merely shrugged at her remark. “I guess so, but we still see each other monthly for briefings. Not that anything interesting happens in them these days, anyway.”

“Personally, I see that as a blessing. Minimum shadow activity equals minimal risks on a day-to-day basis. However, last night brought some concerning news.”

“And that would be? I imagine it wasn’t shadows, otherwise you would have asked us to come immediately. Whatever this is, is of high importance, yet does not require immediate action.” Naoto stated, arms crossed.

Mitsuru nodded her head, standing up in her chair to reveal her long, flowing blouse and suit pants under her waist-long mahogany-colored hair. “Astute as always, Naoto. You’re correct; it isn’t shadow activity. Instead, it’s human and…” She paused, shaking her head. “And cat activity.”

Yu did his best to stifle a chuckle. “Cat activity? What, is a cat going to terrorize Tokyo with its cuteness?”

Mitsuru was going to give an annoyedly-charged yet good-natured reply back, but it fell short when Rise opted to sharply elbow Yu in the ribs. “C’mon, hun, can’t you be serious for once? This is a code SOS!”

Instead, a light chuckle escaped her. “Appreciated, Rise. But perhaps I should have started with the detail that this appears to be a talking cat? Would that have earned your attention more?”

That seemed to get the attention of the investigation team. As they stood there in bewilderment, Mitsuru turned on the large flat screen TV in her room. The screen booted up to reveal a black-clothed figure hunched over a computer, with a cat sitting on the desk next to her.

Immediately, Naoto narrowed her eyes. “Hmm… slender figure, wider hips... Hard to determine due to the baggy hoodie, but if I had to guess, our thief is a woman. But that only brings up more questions.”

“Allow me to start from the top, then, and perhaps some will be answered for you. One of our personnel had their house broken into last night, and an attempt was made to steal their computer which contained programs to access private Kirijo Group data.”

“What sort of data?” Rise asked, tilting her head a bit.

“Nothing too secretive - our most sensitive information is all stored locally in servers. In fact, the only data that I could think of somebody that level having access to readily would be shipping manifests. Not necessarily what the cargo is particularly, but more so when it comes and goes.”

“Do you have any idea if the thief knew  _ what _ data they were stealing exactly?"

“We’re not sure yet, but that’s why we brought you all in here. We hope to deduce that. Anyway, moving on…”

Mitsuru hit the play button on a remote, and the group remained silent whilst the video of the hooded figure continued to play on. She paused the feed again when the figure turned their head to look at the cat, who was pointing at the screen with a paw. “The actions here would indicate some sort of conversation happening between the cat and the thief, would it not?”

“It definitely looks that way.” Yu said. “So, we have a talking cat on our hands, or at least one with human-level intelligence. But still, is that really worth code SOS?”

“While it’s intriguing enough on its own, there’s more to this.” Mitsuru walked back over to the computer on her desk, and opened another video. The image on the TV now showed an alleyway through a night-vision enhanced feed. “This footage is from a camera stationed on one of the helmets of our personnel. We did have somebody lying in wait to catch the thief if they went out the back window, and while we were correct in the assumption, their helmet camera was broken during the incident.”

“How was it broken?”

Mitsuru sighed, as if what she was about to say pained her. “I’m still struggling to come to terms with this, but when the guard came to, he said that a cat punched him in the face with its paw, knocking him out.”

Kanji scratched the side of his head, scoffing. “So what, this cat can talk and is super strong?”

Labry’s eyebrows scrunched up in bewilderment. “Wait what, ya just believin’ it right off the bat? It took me the entire tape ta come ta terms with it.”

“Eh, it ain’t that strange compared to the stuff we’ve seen. Teddie is weirder than a talking cat.”

“Well, that was easy to convince you. Not that I was worried, you all seem to believe anything out of the ordinary.” Mitsuru huffs. “Moving on, allow me to continue with the feed shown.” She pressed play and wordlessly watched as the team of Kirijo personnel called out a warning of surrender to the thief and the cat by its feet. And tucked under her arm was the actual pc they were trying to get into, which caused Rise to let out a short laugh.

“They tried to steal the entire thing? Well I guess when you don’t have time to- WHERE DID THEY GO?!”

Rise was cut off in shock that was mirrored on the faces of the rest of her friends when the thief and cat backed against the wall of the alleyway, and instantly disappeared into thin air. Or, at least, that’s what it looked like.

“Can… can we get a frame-by-frame of this, Mitsuru-san?” Naoto asked, transfixed on the screen.

“Of course.” Mitsuru rewound the video to just before the thief and the cat disappeared. The CEO made her way back to her computer and started tapping the arrow keys to move the video frame-by-frame.

“Around… Right here, is where I think they started to perform their disappearing act.” Mitsuru said, and used a laser pointer to outline the edge of the hooded figure. “Watch around here while I advance the frames slowly.”

As she did so, the investigation team could hardly believe their eyes at what they were seeing. As the figure sunk against the alleyway wall, it was almost as if the darkness reached out and wrapped the figure in a hug, surrounding it like an invisible blanket, except it also made the wearer invisible. By the time Mitsuru had finished moving the video forward, the thief was no nowhere to be seen, only the bricks of the alley wall in their stead.

“It was as if the shadows consumed them and made them their own…” Naoto remarked in disbelief.

“Yeah, not to mention that now it looks like nobody was even there in the first place, all I can see are the freakin’ bricks.” Kanji added.

“So, our culprit has the powers to turn invisible? That’s going to make it pretty challenging to find them…” Yu muttered as he plopped down on one of the couches in Mitsuru’s office. “Well, that,  _ and _ the hyper intelligent cat.”

“Oh just ya wait, this ain’t even close to the end of it!.” Labrys chided, and Mitsuru began the video once more.

\----------

“So, let me make sure we got everything. A talking cat and someone who seems to be a girl with superstrength, the ability to turn invisible, and insane athletic prowess. And they’ve also obtained the remains of a camera that could be reverse engineered to track the location of the lab it was made in. And to top it all off, you think that they’re part of the Phantom Thieves?”

Mitsuru was silent as Yu recapped the contents of the video, and nodded her head when he finished. “That’s my theory.”

“I don’t understand, though! The Phantom Thieves don’t go after good people, only bad guys who deserve it!” Rise cried out. “So why go after the Kirijo Group now, when we’ve done nothing but good for the world the past decade and a half? Wouldn’t they have gone after us during their spree back in 2016 as well?”

Labrys sighed from her position leaning against the window overlooking Tokyo, staring at the ground below. “I know ya the biggest fan of ‘em outta all us, but we can’t rule ‘em out. They’re the only other group’a people with the potential to have powers like that, and we know from Tokyo 2016 that they’re Persona users.”

“I see what you mean, but does that matter?” Kanji asked. “We didn’t really have special strength or whatever when we were in the TV world, and from the sound of it you guys didn’t during the dark hour either. Why would they be any different?”

“I admit that it’s a stretch, but the other big clue is that we haven’t seen anything like this until right after the Phantom Thieves declared themselves back from retirement.” Mitsuru supplied. “There is still the possibility that it’s a separate group entirely, but the deductions can wait. A mysterious group with superpowers can wreck havoc on Tokyo if left unchecked. Right now, we need to prepare for the worst so if it does come true, we will be ready.”

“And that is?” Naoto said, arms crossed.

Mitsuru looked up from the ground to Naoto, fierce determination in her eyes. “Waging an underground guerilla war against the Phantom Thieves. Labrys?”

“Yeah, boss?”

“Get me the rest of the Shadow Operatives, including the new recruit. If the Phantom Thieves, or whoever they are, want to take us down, they also might know about our involvement with the Dark Hour, Nyx, Erebus, and our continued activities regarding shadows. They are to be treated as highly dangerous, and we will do whatever it takes to make sure we keep Tokyo, and all the rest of Japan, safe. Am I clear?”

At seeing affirming nods throughout the room, Mitsuru sighed in relief. “Good. Now, let’s make sure to show them what the Kirijo Group and Shadow Operatives are made of.”

…

…

“MItsuru-senpai sure is great at doing stuff like that, huh?” Rise giggled and poked Yu in the side, who rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, RIse. You just ruined the moment. But now that I guess that’s all said and done, does anybody else want to go out to lunch?”

“Ohhhhh, I like that idea! Could be a good break from all this stress. Whaddya say, boss?”

Mitsuru had to keep her eye from twitching for a second or two, but the facade ultimately broke, and she let out a small laugh. “I guess it’s just like us to not get too serious for too long. Sure, lunch sounds lovely. If I may, I would like to suggest the French bakery not too far from here.”

“But we go there every time, Mitsuru!” Kanji complained, which earned a smug smile from the CEO.

“And that’s because I’m your boss. Now come on, I’ll pay for everyone, too.”

Everyone began to file out of the room with the exception of Rise, who took one last glance at the image of the thief being shot in the stomach while the cat pulled them over onto the roof of the building.

“You guys better have a good reason for doing this…”

“Rise, the elevator’s here! Let’s go!”

“Oh, sorry, coming!”

The door shut behind her, and she pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind. If the Phantom Thieves turned out to be bad people, she knew what she would have to do.

They all knew what would have to be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit, I don't have as near a good a grasp on the P3 and P4 characters as I do the P5 ones. Hopefully I get their personalities, mannerisms, etc done right!
> 
> Either way though, I've been a huge fan of P3 so far with my playthrough, and the cast has been equally fun to write, even if we've only seen a couple of them so far.
> 
> That aside, I've been asked about where the next chapter for Broken Souls is. The answer is that I've been working on it here and there, but as of late I've been quite busy, and have only been able to keep up with the schedule for TWaM. So, I definitely haven't forgotten about Ren and Shiho in Yaizu, but unless I want to release short, mini chapters instead, it'll be a bit longer of a period in-between postings. Hopefully that's ok with y'all!


	33. Stand By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important author's note at the end of this (very short) chapter, so please read!

“You said how long again?”

“A month at the least. God, how else can I stress how hard this is? Not to mention I don’t even have all the equipment required to do what you want me to.”

An exasperated Futaba sat with her fists holding up her cheeks as she stared at the broken remnants of the hidden Kirijo Group security camera that Ann had managed to swipe from their target. “Although the good news is that I bet it’ll take them a long time before they can find out who we are, let alone find us. We’re hidden away pretty well.”

Sitting in a chair next to her, Ren sighed. “So, what now? We just hang tight and do nothing for a month?”

“Unless you wanna explore the entirety of the city building by building? Futaba countered, which earned a groan from her brother.

“Ughhh, fine. We’ll do it your way. We’ll take that month-long break, and then we’ll get to work. We don’t have unlimited time, though. I’m worried if we get found out that-”

“Pfffft, nobody’s gonna find us. We’re so well hidden not even Waldo would have a chance.”

Seemingly content, Ren stood up and stretched. “All right then, we’ll just have to stand by. Let me know if you need anything while you’re working, I could use the excuse to get out of here…”

Despite the silence, Futaba understood Ren’s implications. “Yeah, I’ll find something for you to chase after every now and then so you can stretch your legs. But for now, out of my face! I must work!”

“Heh. Love you, Futaba.”

“Love you too, bro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The above was just basically a creative way to mention that I'll be going on a hiatus. Most likely for a month or so.
> 
> The first thing that you all may be thinking is "oh no, is she losing the drive to write?" And the answer is nope! Definitely not! I really love writing this story, and have strong wishes to see it to its completion. The thing is though, I've totally hit writer's block. At the moment, I haven't been able to write anything that I've wanted to put out, and unfortunately my backlog of content has caught up to me.
> 
> That being said, I need a few weeks to plot out the rest of the story, major events, characters, get over my writer's block, hopefully build up a bit of a backlog, etc. I'll also point out that taking a hiatus is pretty common among online novelists who write a story over an extended period of time. Not everyone does it, but I'm one of the people who do. I want to make sure the writing I bring to the table is of the highest quality I can produce - no sloppy writing here, folks!
> 
> With all that, I hope you can all forgive me for taking a few weeks to recollect everything, and I look forward to bringing you the next chapter in the future! :)


	34. Burn My Dread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's baaaaaaack?

“You know you went over the month time frame you gave us, right?.”

Futaba’s eyes half-lidded in annoyance, a deep sigh escaping her. “Reverse engineering bits and pieces of a broken camera then using that information to find the make and model of a piece of technology that shouldn’t exist will take a bit longer than you might anticipate. I’d like to see you try this, asshole.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m just- wait. Technology that shouldn’t exist?” Ren asked, scratching the back of his neck in confusion.

The brother and sister were sitting at the kitchen table, overlooking a small report Futaba had written up and printed out for him to read about her findings from the Kirijo Group. Next to it was the slightly larger than thumb-sized camera; recreated as close as what Ann could recount from memory, and what Futaba could replicate with her given tools Ren had pilfered from various specialty stores.

“Yup. I reversed engineered technology that shouldn’t exist. You can shower me in praise and gifts later.”

“How did you even do that?”

Futaba giggled and winked at a confused Ren, the smug gremlin look on her face. “Let’s just say I have access to the forbidden knowledge!”

Ren wasn’t sure if he was supposed to understand that or not, but he did anyway. “You mean Necronomicon helped you with it? How?”

To his surprise, Futaba had no snarky comeback for him. “I’m honestly not sure. There are some things that I would normally be completely lost on and instead I just… somehow knew?”

“Like what?”

“Well, the fact that I somehow put it back together in working order is a miracle in itself. I kinda just allowed instincts to take over and let my hands guide themselves. At some points, I wasn’t sure who was reconstructing that camera; me or Necronomicon.”

“That’s… both fascinating, and slightly concerning. I think we should probably look into that. But that’s for another time. What about the camera made no sense?”

“Like… I would look at this tech and think ‘yeah ok, I’ve never seen such a powerful resistor in such a tiny piece of equipment.’ Here, take a look at this.”

With a pair of pliers, Futaba gingerly picked up a tiny resistor and held it up to Ren to see as she continued. “This is what’s known as a microresistor. It- It’s all going to go right over your head, isn’t it. You want to go bowling with everyone else, don’t you?”

As if on cue, the other members cheered as Makoto rolled a strike, which upon inspection of the monitor showed it was her 5th in a row. So that would be a new record, then… 

They had a lot of free time on their hands in the past while.

Ren waved her dismissal off with a hand. “No, no. As much fun it was to repurpose two of the spare lanes into an actual bowling alley, I do want to hear your full explanation. I may not understand it right now, but I definitely won’t if you never explain it to me.”

That caused Futaba’s face to light up in glee, and she continued. “Ok so, as I said, this is a microresistor, which is a special type of resistor that can be inserted into PCBs, or Printed Circuit Boards. They’re much smaller than your average resistor, so they can’t regulate very high-power circuits.”

“Ok, I’m with you so far.”

“Cool! So most microresistors look pretty boring, cuz they’re normally just fitted into the PCB. But this guy right here,” she said, waving the tiny piece of equipment back and forth in front of Ren’s eyes, “this guy has stripes on it! And not just any stripes, mind you. The way these colors are-”

“Woah woah, I know you’re excited to use your degree and I’m happy you are, but remember I know nothing about electrical engineering. Before you talk about the way the colors are aligned, can you tell me what they actually mean?” Ren asked as he rubbed his face with his hands.

“I believe those stripes refer to the resistor color code, am I correct?” Came Sae’s voice from behind the two, who took a seat on the other side of Futaba. “I worked a case regarding an experiment accident in a software engineering company. A faulty resistor set fire to the lab, so I did a little research on how they work.”

“Oh, heya Sae. Yeah, you’re one hundo-percent correct, it’s called the resistor color code. I’ll save you from hearing the entire explanation, but basically these colors tell you how many ohms of resistance it can put out. Or in other words, how strong a current it can regulate. The number of colors can also vary, too. They come from 3 bands to 6, with 3 being the most simple, and 6 being the most complex. Each band means something different. Bands 1 to 3 are the three nonzero digits, the 4th band is a multiplier value, the 5th band is a tolerance window, and the 6th band is a temperature limit.”

“Wouldn’t factors such as tolerance and temperature matter in all resistors?” Sae asked.

“They do, but unless you’re doing some complex and high-voltage shit, you don’t really need them. In microresistors, that’s different. They’re much smaller, but the current normally follows suit with that…”

“And you’re saying this one doesn’t?” Ren finished.

“Uh, kinda? Like, here, look at this,” Futaba said as she set the resistor on the table, took a picture with her phone, then blew the image up so all three could see it. “So, here’s the pattern: white, black, black, white, brown, black. I’ll spare you reading the color code chart, but that’s basically one of the strongest resistors you could ever use - 100 gigaohms. And for something this small, it’s suuuuuper overkill. It would be like using a three foot thick concrete wall to protect yourself from a water balloon.”

“So… why use such a powerful resistor for such a small device?” Sae asked as she studied the photo.

“Are you ready for the crazy part? Cuz here’s where the crazy part comes in. Are you guys familiar with Iron Man? Ya know, Marvel and all that stuff?” At the nod from both of her listeners, she continued. “Well, in the first movie Tony Stark made that mini arc reactor to power a device that kept all that shrapnel from going into his heart, or something like that. And that concept is basically replicated here.”

Ren could hardly believe his ears when Futaba finished, and it took him a few seconds to digest everything before he could say something. “...So, you’re saying that a super powerful resistor is actually a mini reactor of some sort that generates power?”

Just when he thought he was understanding things, it all flew out the window when Futaba shook her head. “Nah, but now that I think about it I can see why you’d think that. I talked about the power source but haven’t even shown it to you yet.”

Taking the pair of pliers, Futaba pointed towards a black box on the camera, which easily took up a third of the space of the PCB. “If my assumption is correct, and mind you it always is, this is where the power comes from. All wires start from it, so that would mean the voltage comes from this box. And if you lift the lid of the box up to peek inside…”

“What are you guys talking about? Is that the recreated camera Futaba’s been slaving day and night over?” This time, the interruption was brought forth by Ann, with Shiho by her side.

Fortunately, Ann’s recovery was a rather swift one. Despite Takemi’s constant urging to get her to visit a hospital so a real surgeon could take a look at her own patchwork job, Ann stayed at the hideout for the extent of her recovery. Thanks to Lavenza empowering Takemi’s experimental blood-rejuvenating drugs, it was only a couple of weeks until she was back on her feet and moving around normally. Takemi was shocked when the blonde appeared in seemingly perfect condition on her clinic doorstep one night for their follow-up appointment she scheduled, but the good doctor knew to never question anything regarding the Phantom Thieves. The less she knew, the better.

The two girls plopped down at the table as Futaba answered Ann’s question. “Yup! Take a look at this thing, in all its glory! I was just explaining how it all works. Wanna hear an explanation?”

“No, that’s ok, I don’t wanna make you start over. But why not call all of us over to talk about it in the first place?”

“I was just gonna give this report to Ren, then he was gonna tell you all the stuff that actually matters. You know me, I just like gushing about stuff I like, and he’ll listen to it! Plus Inari would do nothing but give me shit about this anyways.”

“Ok, ok, let’s get back on track before we go too off topic.” Ren said in an attempt to reign back some sort of control over the situation. “So what’s in the black box?”

“Inside this magical black box is…” a short pause as Futaba lifted the lid of the carefully cut-open box. “Nothing!”

Sure enough, the inside of the box was fairly simple. The only notable aspect of the otherwise empty inside was a trio of metal prongs built into and holding up an extremely tiny glass box, which was empty. “Those metal prongs have some sort of electrical outlet female port on the inside of the box, as if whatever was inside the box could be plugged into the power receptors. We’re lucky that somehow, the glass box didn’t break when Ann crushed it underfoot. But the rest of the box did, and putting that back together took a lot of soldering.”

“Sorry bout that.” Ann said with a sheepish blush, to which Futaba shook her head.

“Nah, you’re good. Probably for the better you did that, I would have had to dismantle it to remove the tracking device it has anyway. And before anyone asks, yes, I did remove the circuity that enables it so if we do manage to power this baby up, we won’t be tracked. But going back to the exciting part; the fact that the reactor or whatever this thing is, is empty tells me one of two things. Either the energy source has the capacity to dissipate or disappear when the device is broken, or it actually just runs off of thin air. And I’m honestly not sure which concept is more frightening.”

“Wow. and you’re sure that’s the case?” Ren asked, looking at Futaba in disbelief.

“100%. I’d say otherwise if the glass was broken because then the possibility that the power source fell or leaked out at some point would be possible, but that ain’t a thing here. We got some real advanced shit on our hands. Something that even with Necronomicon guiding me, I may not be able to figure out. And if a simple camera is this complex, it makes me wonder what else the Kirijo Group has up their sleeve that we haven’t seen yet.”

The group fell into an uncomfortable silence as they collectively stared at the uncertainty of the work of engineering before them. Ren did his best to hold his own composure as he picked up the camera gingerly and even though his eyes were inspecting it closely, his mind was somewhere else.

_Can we really win this?_

“Ann! It’s your turn for CQC training!”

The blonde in question turned around to see Makoto standing in the doorway to one of the rooms they repurposed as a gym/training room, Haru walking out drenched in sweat and wiping her brow.

She turned to Ren, a pleading frown on her face. “Do I have to? That sounds pretty tiring, going through all that training. Isn’t that what our physical abilities are for, anyway?”

Images of Ann’s bloody body laying on the rooftop of Takemi’s building waiting for somebody to find her invaded his mind in an instant, and the leader couldn’t quite fully stifle the sharp gasp that involuntarily came out. “I-I… you have to. We can’t have any more close calls. My orders.”

Fortunately, she didn’t argue back. She stood up silently, walked over to Ren, and gave him a tight hug. They stayed like that for several seconds before Ann gently pulled away, gave him a soft smile, and walked off to join Makoto in the training room.

\----------

Shiho had heard and been told a lot since her joining of the Phantom Thieves, but being told their potential enemy has technology that shouldn’t exist took the cake.

“I don’t get it. How does technology reach a point where it shouldn’t exist? When can you say technology reaches that point, especially if it does exist and we have tangible proof it does? And where is that line even drawn anyways?”

Below her head, Shiho felt a soft laugh escape from Ren’s chest. The two were cuddled together on a couch while watching a mindless zombie parody movie, the rest of the thieves were practicing firearms training under Makoto’s instruction. And much to the dismay of the others, Ren and Shiho’s impressive accuracy of all types of weaponry deemed them good enough to escape their nightly session.

The soft sound of Ren’s heartbeat in one of Shiho’s ears was combated by the sounds of muffled firearms and the movie into her other as he replied. “Those are all questions I asked Futaba earlier today, because I didn’t understand it at all, either. And to be honest, I still don’t.”

“Well? What did she say?”

“Aside from chewing me out for asking ‘such a dumb question that even Inari would undersand’?” He waited for a second to let Shiho’s own quiet laughter subside. “I won’t bore you with one of her long technology explanations, but basically she claims that the power source and circuitry, if she put it together correctly, wouldn’t obey the known laws of physics.”

“I see…” A pause. “By the way, why exactly does Futaba go on those long technological explanations all the time? Doesn’t she know we wouldn’t understand? I saw Ryuji nodding off when she brought up the resistor color code in the team meeting earlier before you cut her short.”

Ren didn’t say anything for a little while, which prompted Shiho to lift her head and look at him expectantly. His eyes fluttered from her, back to the movie, then back to her. Biting his lip, he reached for the remote and paused the tv. “I guess we haven’t discussed that with you yet. But, I suppose now is as good a time as ever.”

Shiho’s brow furrowed immediately. “Talk about what? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing serious, sorry if that misled you. It’s just, well… The reason we let Futaba go on her technological, anime, what have you tangents, is because she just doesn’t understand social cues enough to process it. And it’s not her fault; she does an amazing job and has come a very long way. But…”

“...You don’t try to tell her you guys don’t understand it, though?”

“I allow it to an extent, because I want Futaba to be Futaba. I don’t want her to think that we don’t love her for who she is. All of us love my sister from the bottom of our hearts, and she shouldn’t have to attempt to change something about herself that there is no way of doing so.”

“Think about this;” Ren started back up, and she shifted her attention to him. “Futaba has trouble picking up on social cues, has sensory issues with any sort of physical contact unless if it’s from somebody she trusts, can develop obsessions on topics she loves while caring little about things she doesn’t, and big changes scare her.”

It took a few seconds, but Shiho finally understood. “Is she… on the spectrum?”

Her suspicions were confirmed with a nod. “ASD, to be precise. Used to be called Aspergers before the name was changed up. It’s a mild form of autism, to put it bluntly.”

“Huh…” Shiho murmured, staring off into space. “I don’t know Futaba super well just yet, but she seems fine to me. Maybe a little awkward and I agree with the symptoms you just said, but otherwise she’s just like the rest of us.”

“Yup! People like me are still high-functioning members of society. Or since we shun society as the Phantom Thieves, I guess that would just make me a high-functioning reject?”

Shiho practically jumped as Futaba’s face suddenly popped into her field of view, staring her down with a grin. “Ren did a pretty good job of explaining it. But then again, he’s had to do it for every new member that joins our ranks since ye olde day of reckoning.”

Futaba’s last few words slipped out so casually that Shiho almost missed them completely. “Wait, day of reckoning? Is that when you guys defeated that evil god that fused the Metaverse and the real world?”

“Uhhh, Ren? How does she know about that already?”

“...Let’s not pay attention to the small details.” Ren said sheepishly, instead pulling Futaba down onto the couch and next to him, Shiho moving away slightly to give the two space. “How long have you been standing behind us anyway?”

“Ehhh, about five minutes? Regardless, I heard the whole thing. You seem pretty chill about it Shiho, but if you make fun of me I’ll throw you to the streets!”

Shiho sat up straight, her head shaking furiously. “Oh of course not! I wouldn’t dream of making fun of you! I-”

“Relaaaaaax, I was just joking. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” Futaba rolled her eyes dismissively. “I guess if I’m to be serious for once, you were actually taking it really well. Besides, I doubt anybody could be worse than Ryuji’s initial reaction. It was right on the level of the famous double nosebleeds from when he saw Sae in sleepwear for the first time.”

The growing unnerve Shiho had been building up immediately dissipated with Futaba’s joking demeanor, and she relaxed. “I heard about that. It does sound like a very Ryuji thing to do, but he’s got a heart of gold, you know?”

“For sure.” Ren agreed. “He’s not the brightest individual I’ll admit, but the guy will always put others before himself, no matter what. We’re lucky to have him.”

"Yeah! The only other person who I can think of who comes even remotely close to his sympathy is the floofball Haru. No offense, bro."

His mood changed like a light switch.

Ren heard Shiho respond to Futana's quip, but he had no idea what she actually said. Instead, Haru's name rattled around in his head, making him close his eyes tightly. 

Standing up abruptly, Ren rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm kinda tired, so I'm gonna turn in for the night. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

He left both before either of the two could get a word in, and before they could see the tears rolling down his cheeks.

\----------

“...And then he just suddenly left. Probably to prevent us from seeing him cry, if I had to guess.” Shiho sighed while recounting the event to Makoto, who was putting a training dummy back against a wall of the gym room. Her cleanup finally completed, Makoto stretched her arms up in a relaxed stretch, but her face was full of concern.

“We need to try something different than just comforting him, but how do we do that without saying what he did was ok?”

“...”

“Shiho?”

The ravenette studied Makoto for several seconds, then took a slow, deep breath. “What if… What if what he did _was_ ok?”

Makoto expected several different replies, but that was not one of them. “WHAT? You agree with him and Haru now?”

“Wait, hear me out.” Shiho held up a hand, and Makoto fell silent. “Ren told me he justified Haru because he was worried of the potential that one of them would have killed one of us. And according to Yusuke, the bodies of the guards did have firearms with live ammunition in them.”

“When did you find all of that out?” Makoto asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “And why didn’t you clue me in on all of this?”

“Because I figured you’d oppose me sleuthing around, asking people for information here and there. You tend to take more of a... direct approach, and I don’t want to stir up shit between everyone.”

That earned a wince from Makoto. “I’ll concede that point, I tend to have a habit of forcing an issue to a head instead of using a more subtle approach. But enough about me. Continue.”

“Ok, so, I doubt Ren ever found out if the guards were armed or not, but he _was_ right in assuming they could have been a lethal threat. And since now we’re being hunted to be killed - not arrested - what would have stopped those people from shooting us on sight? Even if they didn’t know who we were at the time, we know that they’re the kind of people who would kill first, then ask questions later.”

Makoto sighed, then sat down on the floor, leaning against one of the walls of the room. “I understand what you’re getting at, but that’s only information we knew after the fact. The decision Haru made was before we knew they were deadly, and we need to focus on what was only known at that point in time. You can’t take a life, then give it back if you made the wrong call. And because of that, we can’t justify Haru’s actions.”

“But we can justify Ren’s, can’t we? I mean, if you were still in the force and you later learned that one of your fellow officers killed a dangerous criminal before they could have done any harm and killed someone else, wouldn’t that be justified?”

Makoto didn’t say anything for a little while, which Shiho took as an excuse to slide down to a sitting position next to her. The physical contact made Makoto jump slightly, as if pulling her out of a trance. “I-I’m not sure. That’s a really deep question that can be both interpreted and answered in more ways than one. I think it could only ever be justified if the person killed was actually a dangerous, wanted criminal.”

“But Makoto, remember the news reports confirmed the three dead _were_ criminals who were helping enforce a sex trafficking ring. They were dangerous people and if it comes down to either us or them, I think we deserve to live a lot more than they do.”

“But Shiho-”

“Makoto, look at me.” Shiho interrupted, moving herself so she was straddling the other girl with their faces only inches apart. “Would you rather have one of us or criminals dead?”

Makoto gripped Shiho’s cheeks, and while normally Makoto would be excited to be so close to her, there was only frustration instead. “Shiho, we’re also criminals. And no matter what way you want to spin it, we’re murderers too. Three are dead and the blood is on our hands. How does that make us any better than them?”

 _“Because we’re trying to make things right in the world!”_ Shiho exploded, pushing Makoto’s shoulders back against the wall. “Hell, the Phantom Thieves _saved the world_ 6 years ago! And once again, our ungrateful country is already neck deep in corruption, with a shady technology giant pulling all the strings in the Metaverse or Shadow Tokyo or wherever while we sit here twiddling our thumbs! They’re busy running sex trafficking rings and who else knows fucking what in the shadows, and we’re concerned with something as trivial as three criminals? I don’t know about you, Makoto, but I highly doubt that we’ll make it very far if we don’t properly fight back against tHE PEOPLE TRYING TO KILL US IN COLD BLOOD SO THEY CAN DO FUCK KNOWS WHAT WITH THIS COUNTRY!”

By the end of her rant Shiho had realized she’d been pushing Makoto’s shoulders hard into the wall while gripping down as tightly as possible. Letting go with a gasp, she fell backwards on her butt, and her eyes were wrought with sorrow. “Oh-Oh my god, I’m so sorry Makoto, I’m not sure what came over me, I’m just so-”

“...I agree with you.”

Shiho honestly didn’t believe her ears. “I’m sorry, what?”

Makoto looked up from her lap, and Shiho saw she had tears in her eyes. “I’ve always agreed with you. With Haru, too.”

That caught Shiho completely off guard, and she had to fight to keep her mind from spinning while she listened to Makoto continue on. “Ever since Ann was almost kidnapped months ago, it made me realize just how powerless we are. No matter how hard the police force, or any other organization tries, there will always be more criminals than they can handle. Even throughout my career as an officer, I could never completely come to terms with the fact that I would never be able to accomplish what I did in one year as a Phantom Thief, and I might never have, even if I became commissioner. And between my lack of results compared to being a Phantom Thief and Sae’s rare victories as a defense attorney, I realized just how _useless_ and corrupt the justice system is. The system that my dad ended up dedicating his _life_ to.”

The tears were in free fall now, and Shiho wordlessly pulled Makoto into a hug with so much force that the two toppled over onto Shiho’s back. Meanwhile, Makoto hadn’t stopped her emotions from spilling out through words. 

“Shiho, I tried so hard to think I could make a change from the inside out. I wanted to believe that somehow, someway, I could be the difference the justice system sorely needed. But as soon as we found out the Kirijo Group was almost certainly related to the attempted assassination on Haru, followed by them actually shooting and nearly fataly wounding Ann, and on top of that, they’re also probably the ones with the police in their pocket, it made me realize… How could we possibly hope to fight back, unless we fight just as dirty? It’s impossible to make a difference unless you fight fire with fire. I learned that back when I became a Phantom Thief, and I should have remembered that. I was a fool for thinking I had a chance to make a difference legally. I really hate it, and I tried to deny it for so long, but we have to fight back just as dirty if we want to make a difference in this ungrateful, shitty country. We need to burn it all to the ground. Every last person who thinks they can take advantage of the systems designed to protect people.”

In all the years Shiho had known Makoto, not once had she ever seen her lose her cool and dump her emotions like that. To her, Makoto had always been the level-headed one. The girl who could always take a step back and assess a situation logically. The girl who would keep others grounded when they needed a rock. The girl who would always take a second to compose, organize, and present her thoughts in a neat and orderly fashion.

In other words, the girl Shiho was hugging was a completely different Makoto.

This Makoto was fractured, defeated. One broken down by enormous amounts of stress and self-expectations to fix a system so inherently corrupted that even ridding the world of its own Sloth and starting with a clean slate could not accomplish the task for long. To Shiho, the fact that Makoto had remained this steadfast for so long was a feat in itself. After all, it only took a couple of hours for Shiho to break. The second the thieves discovered that sex trafficking ring and narrowly avoided an assassination, she had already made up her mind.

Shiho wanted to watch their enemies burn, too.

For how long the couple stayed in each other’s arms, Shiho didn’t know. It could have been seconds, minutes, maybe even hours before Makoto finally pried herself from Shiho’s protective grip as she stood up with slightly wobbly legs.

“Shiho,” Makoto asked quietly as she helped Shiho up with an extended hand, “Are we… Are we monsters for thinking this way? For wanting to burn everything that stands in our way to the ground?”

“...If we are, we wouldn’t be the only good guys in history who could be seen as monsters.”

Makoto couldn’t determine what was worse; the fact that Shiho’s answer didn’t make her feel any better, or the fact that she didn’t even bother denying it in the first place.

\----------

“You both… agree with me? It was justified?”

Ren could hardly believe his ears. The two people who had been talking to him for the past month about his self-proclaimed fatal mistake with Haru had suddenly reversed their opinion to something that Ren didn’t even fully mean. It was originally meant to just calm her down, but he had absolutely no idea it would have that big an impact on the two who knew about what he had done.

“You two do realize I said that in a desperate attempt to calm Haru down, right? I don’t actually think that way...”

No. There was no way the two beacons of stability in his life had been driven to think that way. He had to be hearing things.

**Perhaps they are the ones who are thinking rationally, Trickster.**

_Either that, or we’ve all gone beyond redemption._

**So long as the end result is the same.**

_What end result?_

Arsene was silent and for the upteenth time, Ren cursed how his other half loved to speak in riddles.

“We do. Ren, we had to fight dirty to succeed as the Phantom Thieves. We have to do it again, this is no different.” Makoto said, but it sounded less like she was trying to convince Ren and more like she was attempting to convince herself. 

“What are you talking about? This is completely different! There are _human lives_ on the line here, and we can’t just kill people just because we’re trying to keep ourselves safe!”

“So you’d rather die at the hands of a criminal than-”

“Oh c’mon, Makoto, you can’t pull that on me! That’s a loaded question and you know it!”

“It’s loaded because it’s TRUE!” Makoto growled, slamming her hand down on their bed with all her might, causing it to shake violently. “We’re helpless unless we actually fight back properly, and you know it! Ann wouldn’t have been shot if it weren’t for our current pacifist philosophy!”

It was a low blow, and Ren knew it was intentional. Makoto hardly ever made cheap shots like that, but when she did, she was very passionate about her point of view. But even still, where did this burst of aggressiveness come from?

“Makoto, Shiho… You two need to tell me why you’ve changed your opinions on this.”

And so they did. The two girls recounted their fight/confessions they had only but an hour beforehand, explaining why they had hidden their true thoughts from everyone else in fear of being judged, only for them to realize they both shared the same opinions. Which, of course, was news to Ren, given they had been trying to enact damage control over his actions.

But even then, he couldn’t find himself to be completely surprised. He knew Makoto almost better than she knew herself, given she didn’t start exploring her true nature until she joined the Phantom Thieves. Despite wanting to be a figure of authority, there was a hidden distaste for the very system she was employed in. Ren imagined she wanted to be something akin to a dark hero, who wanted to perform acts of justice without jumping through the countless hoops of the legal system. And at one point in time she did have that power for several months.

But when that gets taken away from you, what other choice is there? Once you’ve tasted what it feels like to make such a large difference in such a short amount of time, why would you want to go back?

Ren didn’t have a good answer to that. He knew that deep down he felt the same way, after all. As much as he didn’t want to admit it to himself.

Ren hardly got any sleep that night.

\----------

“Oi, Futaba! Let me in!”

Futaba could just barely hear the high-pitched voice of Morgana over her own music blaring through her headphones, and she only took them off when he began to rap on the door impatiently.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, sheesh.” She sighed, cracking open the door just long enough to allow the cat to stride in. “Wassup, Mona? Our meeting with the squad isn’t for another two hours.”

Morgana hopped onto Futaba’s desk as the girl plopped back into her chair, yawning. “Besides, I was thinking of taking a quick nap. I got nowhere near enough sleep last night.”

“You never do. But Futaba, stop stalling. I think you know why I’m here, right?”

The redhead stared at Morgana inquisitively, but ultimately dropped her shoulders when he refused to back down. “Yeah, I know. I overheard it through my bugs, too. Sounds like they got beef on the morality line of our shebang. What’s your take on it?”

“As in, what I think is going on between the two of them, or my personal opinion?”

Futaba shrugged. “Since you offered, both.”

“Figures. Well, I don’t know too much since I only overheard Makoto and Ren’s brief argument last night when I was going to knock on the door because I felt like crashing with them for the night. It did sound like they ended on a peaceful note, but I’m not sure where Ren stands on the matter. It was pretty unclear.”

“And your own opinion?”

“I don’t really care. I’ve never really cared. Even way back then, I was okay with Ann causing a mental shutdown on Kamoshida. It was her who made the call to spare him.”

“But when I joined, you were always cautious about not causing mental shutdowns, weren’t you?”

“I was, but only because at that point we were famous and a mental shutdown would have ruined our reputation. And I was right about that, too. But at the same time, I’m worried about everyone. Morality is a very slippery slope, and I’m worried for everyone’s mental state if we go down that rabbit hole too far.”

Futaba stared at Morgana for several seconds, then turned her attention back to one of her monitors, which was showcasing a livestream of a girl dressed in a shark costume playing a horror game. “Meh, fair enough.”

The nonchalant reaction irked the cat. “What about you, Futaba? What’s your take on all this?” Morgana asked, moving to sit in front of the monitor to garner the redhead’s attention. 

Sighing, Futaba picked up Morgana and placed him on her lap so she could get a clear view of her video, and she continued to watch while she spoke. “I couldn’t give less of a shit about the Kirijo Group. They attempted to kidnap me, actually gave me amnesia, and shot Ann. They didn’t even try to bring her in peacefully, instead shooting where she hid. If our enemies won’t give us a chance, I don’t think they deserve one either.”

Morgana had no immediate answer to that, instead silently watching the stream with disinterest. 

“Why do you think we’re like this now, Mona?” Futaba blurted out suddenly, and Morgana reared his head back slightly in surprise.

“Huh? You’re asking me? But didn’t you just give your reasons for that?”

“Yeah, but that had to have come from somewhere, right? I didn’t think like that before. Back then, I never wished harm on Akechi, or even Shido. I just wanted justice. Now, I could probably care less if something were to happen to Shido while in prison, and I’m glad that slimeball Akechi is dead.”

“When did you start having that mindset?”

“Maybe two years ago, give or take a year? Around when I finished college. Look, Mona…” Futaba closed her livestream and propped Morgana up on her desk, staring into his eyes intently. “Maybe it’s different since you’re a literal embodiment of positive human emotions, but I don’t have great opinions about this world. There’s political corruption, worldwide terrorism and other dangerous crimes, the whole climate change problem, and so much more. I mean, I guess we have cool things to think about like the upcoming mission to Mars, or maybe finally Metroid Prime 4 will be released, but this world is fucked up, Morgana. And now that we’re all adults, our opinions on how things should be handled have changed. We’re all more mature, more realistic. I mean, I don’t even relate to real life as a videogame as near as much as I used to. I guess you’re timeless or whatever, but part of growing up is that people change. And we’re all changing.”

Morgana wasn’t sure if he had heard Futaba talk this much about anything outside of videogames, computers or engineering, or even anime. But the fact that she had so much to say on the matter did tell him something: she had thought about this topic a lot. As has everyone else, it seemed. And while he wasn’t not okay with any of his comrades’ new opinions, it was definitely unsettling to see people who he thought would think one way actually think another.

Futaba seemed to notice, and she cupped Morgana’s cheeks within her hands. “Look ya silly cat, every human has to grow up at some point. We were really young when we first met, and while we were definitely very lucky with how things turned out back then, we were also naive to think that our troubles would be completely over. Take Ren’s third school year with Shiho in Yaizu, for example. That was a brutal wake up call for him, and it’s played a part in who he is today. Makoto’s probably seen some crazy shit as a copper, and has been powerless through many situations where she wanted to do what was right, but couldn’t. Sure, we may be going against some of our ideals we shared back when we could access the Metaverse, but that’s how it is now. I did my best to try to keep my mindset like that, but when ya get hit with amnesia via an attempted kidnapping, you kind of forget about your previous thinking process and dream up new ones. And yes, the pun was kinda bad, but intentional!”

Morgana sighed, averting his eyes from Futaba. “I think I understand. It seems like you could go on about this for hours too (“yeah, I could”) so I’ll keep us from going in circles, but I think I get a better understanding of what’s going on in everyone’s heads right now. I’m not really sure how much I like it, though.”

Futaba let go of the cat and leaned back in her chair, shrugging. “Well, ya better get used to it! We’re the new and improved badass Phantom Thieves, and nothing will stop us from fixing what’s going on right now in Japan!” She nodded firmly, then scratched her neck. “Oh, and we should also probably get that one guy who’s trying to capture us so we don’t have to hide away anymore.”

“Futaba, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think we have a chance at going back to a normal life anymore. We’re responsible for the death of 3 people, among a bunch of other things. And that’s not including all the laws we’re likely going to break in the future, too.”

“Yeah, yeah. But you gotta let a girl dream! Maybe I can still attend my favorite anime cons if I do super elaborate cosplays so nobody could recognize me… What do you think, Mona? Who should I cosplay as?”

Morgana rolled his eyes in response. “Cosplay as Oracle, I dunno. Didn’t you get your Metaverse suit custom made?”

“I can’t cosplay as myself; people would recognize me!”

“How would they recognize you if you’ve never shown your outfit or identity to the public?”

“...Point. Now either sit here with me and watch an anime girl play horror games, or begone from my sight until it is time for our meeting!”

Mona looked at the door, then back to Futaba expectantly.

“Well don’t stare at me kitty, what’s it gonna be?”

“You realize I can’t actually leave unless you get up and open the door for me, right?”

“...Point. Again.” Futaba grumbled and got up to open the door to her lair. “I’ll see you back here in an hour and thirty.”

\----------

“Alright everyone, it’s been a really stressful while since we’ve had nothing to do but wait, but Futaba’s got some pretty exciting news for us.” Ren raised his voice over the quiet chatter of the other thieves, who all stopped to listen to him. “Futaba, can you report your findings?”

The gremlin hopped up from her squatting position in her desk chair, saluting. “You got it, boss! So, you guys want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Let us proceed with the bad news first, perhaps? We can get that out of the way first.” Yusuke offered from his position leaning against a wall, without looking up from his current task of shading a sketch.

Futaba giggled at the suggestion. “Too bad Inari, you’re getting the good news first because the bad news wouldn’t make sense without the good!”

“Then why would you present the ques-”

“Ok, the good news! I’ve finally narrowed down the locations of the possible laboratories we need to hit!”

There were cheers among the thieves, but Sae had caught onto something else. “Wait, wait, hold on. Did you say locations, plural?”

Everybody else quickly fell silent while Futaba pointed at Sae excitedly. “Yes, I did! That is the bad news - there are a total of three possible locations that could have our laboratory we’re after!”

“You can’t be serious…” Sae muttered under her breath, and rubbed her forehead with a hand. So you’re telling me that we’re going to have to conduct three individual raids? That would be incredibly time and resource consuming. Is there any way to narrow it down to at least two?”

“Ah, but you see! There is more good news! I have reason to believe that _all_ three of these locations are Kirijo Group labs!”

Ren sighed and flicked the back of Futaba’s head. “Alright, no more roller coaster rides with this good news, bad news stuff. Give us all the news, straight up."

In a rare show of restraint, Futaba crossed her arms and sighed. "You guys are no fun. Anyway, I've already said most of it. There's three points of interest that we need to check out. They could be decoys, they could be our lab in question, or it could be nothing at all. We won't know until we check it out for ourselves."

"So is there really no way to narrow it down, like Sae asked?" Ann questioned.

Futaba shook her head. "With technology, nah. I haven't even been able to find a camera that looks at the facilities. The only way I have an idea of where they are is because I would track the trucks that carry Kirijo Group equipment. And how did I find that?" She looked at Ren, and chuckled. "I had him do a little bit of some various field work tasks in secret. The results were extremely helpful in tracking down our target!"

"Oh my God, you didn't. I thought you were just going out for patrols and basic recon to ensure our safety before stealth training, not chasing down Kirijo Group equipment! We are talking about this later, Ren." Makoto glared at him, and for only the tiniest of split seconds Ren regretted his actions. He would have gone crazy otherwise, even if he was allowed to patrol the area.

Ren simply nodded at Futaba to continue, so she did. “So with a best case scenario, we have a 100% chance to find a lab if all three are what we think they are. At worst, it’s 33.3%, where one is our target and the other two are decoys. And knowing our luck, I’m gonna assume the worst case scenario.”

As she spoke, Futaba sat back down in her chair and spun around to face the computer, taking several seconds to pull up a map of Tokyo on the largest monitor so everyone could see it. On the map were three intersections highlighted in red: One near Akihabara, one near Odaiba, and another near Shibuya.

“The red spots are our targets, which kinda blows because they’re not exactly close to each other. And from our experience on how quick the Kirijo Group response times are, I’m gonna guess that all three labs will go into lockdown as soon as we hit one of them.”

“So we only have one shot, and our only hope is to flat out guess?” Haru wondered aloud.

“Well, maybe if we were bad at our job…” Futaba replied, chuckling. “But we’ve been training hard in CQC at the gym and stealth out there on the surface. My idea is for us to split up and each break into a lab at the same exact time.”

“Holy shit, ain’t that a bit ambitious?”

“Are you crazy! Someone’s gonna get killed!”

“Futaba-chan, I’m not sure about this…”

“That’s way too dangerous for us to attempt!”

The entire room erupted in voices save for Ren, who was rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes in an attempt to focus and figure out the possible logistics of running three ops at once. 

Futaba just sighed, and banged on her desk for order. “Hey! Hey!!! HEY E-EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

The din lowered immediately, and Futaba groaned in appreciation while massaging her temples. “Fuck me, that sort of loudness is shit I just cannot deal with. Total sensory overload and it drives me absolutely nuts. Now, before you sissies throw another fit, I think I have an idea on how to handle this shitshow.”

She took a deep breath to calm herself, but it was Ren’s gentle hand he placed on her shoulder that calmed her down more. “Thanks bro. Now, we haven’t really had clean ops in the past, but in my opinion that can be avoided pretty easily. How about we actually play for keeps? Ya know, not knock people out, but put them out of commission instead. Permanently.”

Futaba could almost feel the hand on her shoulder grow colder by the second. “Futaba, you can’t be serious! Can’t we at least use the new tranq bullets? Those should knock anybody out cold for a few hours, and we’ll be out of there by then.”

“I agree with Ren, 100%,” Sae chimed in. “There’s also the fact that if we were to murder more people, we would only be seen worse in society. It won’t be long until the media connects all of our identities together to the Phantom Thieves’ resurgence, either.”

“I see. Then we would all be branded as murderers, and would have no hope going back to society as we know it…” Yusuke said, still concentrating on his sketchbook.

Futaba scowled at nobody in particular, throwing her hands in the air. “Yeah, well fuck society! They’ve done nothing but screw us over anyway. How about we just move to America or Canada or something once this is all over instead? 

“Guys, I think we’re getting too off-track here.” Makoto interjected, taking the floor for herself. “I’ve seen those tranq bullets in action, and they work very well. I think we should give them a go just this once, and determine what to do from there. And as a little bit of insurance…” She turned towards Ren, nodding. “Ren, can you bring out Lavenza for us?”

He nodded silently and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, yellow ones opened. 

“Hello, everyone. Or should I say, wassup? How may I assist you all?” 

Makoto wasted no time cutting to the chase. “Lavenza, I was wondering if you could return more of our powers to us.”

Lavenza said nothing for several seconds as she looked over the group. Eventually, she settled back on Makoto. “I would be lying if I said I did not think this day was coming. After what happened to Takamaki-san, I had expected to be asked this question immediately. However, I will not scold you. It seems that your enemy is much more capable than we initially thought, and we appear to be at a disadvantage. It is not unwise to ask for a helping hand in time of need.”

“Ok, so… you gonna help us or not?” Ryuji asked, crossing his arms.

Lavenza hummed, rocking on her toes. “I am unsure. Erebus has been quite restless as of late. I fear for the Great Seal...”

It was almost as if Lavenza forgot there were other people in the room, because she jumped when Shiho spoke up. “Uhh, who’s Erebus? And what’s this ‘Great Seal’ you’re referring to?”

“Ah, pay me no heed. One of my sister’s duties has acted up lately, but perhaps it is just a coincidence. As for your request, you must understand that rewriting the way the world works is no easy feat. I must take some time to discover a solution that shall perhaps bring you all some help, while also not undermining the complexities my master and I crafted during the rebirth.”

“Seriously? You can’t do any sort of fancy magic stuff and allow us and only us to have powers?” Futaba said.

“Sakura-san, were it that easy, I would have given you all your full powers in my first appearance. Unfortunately, true magic is much more complex than the powers of Persona that you all wield.”

There were a few snickers around the room at the expense of Futaba getting dissed, but the gremlin let it slide. Given that since it’s Lavenza, it probably wasn’t even intentional. “Point taken. Can you just let us know somehow when you come up with an answer?”

“Of course. However, I fear it may take a week or two at the least for me to devise a solution that will not disrupt the fabric of space and time, but I cannot make promises. Now, I will be off. I have much work to do to prepare. I wish you all the best in the meantime.”

When Ren came to, the first thing he did was usher Futaba out of her comfortable chair so he could collapse into it. Yawning, he gave everyone a thumbs up as a sign that he was feeling ok. “I think Lavenza will come through for us. But besides that, we’ve all been training hard for the last month and a half. We’ve all gotten quieter, stronger, quicker, deadlier. And this time, we need to stand and fight. We have weapons to incapacitate our enemies. Our strength will let us overpower anybody in a hand to hand fight.”

“Ren’s right.” Makoto agreed. “We’ve seen that our enemy is not too worried about taking us alive, so they are prone to shooting first, then asking questions later. If we attempt to run, we’ll only get shot in the back. Now, the question is this: should we wait for Lavenza to get back to us? Raise your hand if you think we should wait.”

When nobody raised their hand, Makoto grinned. “Good, I was getting way too restless, anyway. Now, it will be tough with us split into groups, but I know we can manage. Shall we begin to plan?”

And with that, the Phantom Thieves got to work.

\----------

Mitsuru couldn’t lose the stress that had been chasing her for over a month.

The head of the Kirijo Group sat at her desk in her home office within her penthouse that sat on top of one of the many highrises in Odaiba. Dozens of case files lay spread on the desk before her, and she eyed them with suspicion.

“Apart from Makoto Niijima, who I know was fired from the police force not too long ago, most of these seem to be quite the stretch. Miss Okumura’s spokesperson mentioned she was taking a sabbatical on the news, and our sources can confirm she seems to have left the country. Ren Amamiya is obvious, given he was revealed as the leader of the Phantom Thieves beforehand. But the rest of these people seem to be quite ordinary, comparatively speaking.”

The other individual partaking in their discussion leaned forward earnestly, a smirk on their face. “I assure you, these are the Phantom Thieves. I know it may be hard to believe, given they were teenagers at the time, but you were a teenager when you and the rest of S.E.E.S. drove back Nyx and Erebus, were you not?”

Mitsuru sighed, twirling a lock of her hair. “You strike a point. However, we were not master thieves. Even if they used what you call the Metaverse, which you claim works similarly to the Dark Hour, I imagine it would be quite the challenge to steal the Treasure from somebody’s heart.”

“Oh, but it is. I assure you, the Phantom Thieves are no pushovers.”

“I agree. They did save the world back in 2016, after all. And as much as I want to believe they haven’t been behind the recent robberies, what makes you so certain in your guess?”

Her conversation partner reached into a briefcase and pulled out a new folder, placing it on her desk. Picking it up, she saw the name on it had no last name, but rather a single name across the top in big black letters.

“Morgana? Who is this ‘Morgana’?”

“That Morgana is the black cat that was part of the house robbery break-in. The reason you have no information on him is because the police and other intelligence sources would never consider a cat to be a master thief in the first place.”

Mitsuru set down the file and looked at the other inquisitively. “I would call you crazy, but we once had a dog that could wield the power of Persona. Regardless, you seem to know an awful lot about the Phantom Thieves. Where does all your information come from?”

“Well-”

They were interrupted by the sound of the front door to the penthouse opening, followed by a woman’s voice calling out to the dwelling.

“Mitsuru, I’m home!”

“I’m in here!” Mitsuru called back, and a warm smile crossed her face when the woman crossed the threshold into the study. “Hello, Yukari. How was your day?”

Yukari Takeba leaned against the doorframe, sighing. “Long, but I hung in there. I swear, I’m starting to get too old for this kind of acting…” She pushed off the frame and made her way to Mitsuru’s side, where she planted a kiss on her cheek. “I’d ask you how your day was, but it seems like it’s not finished yet.” 

The third person in the room gave a gentle cough, which prompted Yukari to stand up straight. “Oh, sorry I just ignored you! How are you today, Akechi-kun?”

Goro Akechi gave a polite smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’m doing fine, thank you for asking. My apologies for intruding in your home at this hour, but I have finished compiling case files on each of the Phantom Thieves and wanted to deliver them to Kirijo-san personally as soon as possible.”

“Wow, that was pretty fast. How did you find all that information in less than two months?” Yukari asked.

Akechi shrugged. “Let’s just say I may not be a detective anymore, but I haven’t completely lost all my knowledge and skills. If only I managed to catch them and fully discover their identities back when they were still at large, perhaps I would have had more information for you...”

Mitsuru waved his apology off casually. “This is more than we could have gotten even if we spent a year researching them. Tokyo is a massive place, and we had no leads to narrow the search down. Your work was exemplary.” She stood up from her chair and placed an arm around Yukari, smiling. “Now, seeing as my wife is home, I would like to finish up things for the night. The next opportunity all the Shadow Operatives can be free, I’d like to schedule an in-person debriefing. Until then, I’d like to bring all the SOs in. We need to be able to move out at full strength at a moment’s notice.”

“Understood. Until then, I shall remain close by should you need me for anything else.” Akechi replied, standing up. As he threw up the hood of his hoodie to cover the majority of his face, Mitsuru nodded.

“I’ll keep that in mind. But for now, we are waiting for the Phantom Thieves to make their next move. You all will be the first to know when that happens.”

“Glad to hear it. Until next time, Kirijo-san, Takeba-san.”

Without waiting for anybody to show him out, Akechi left the room and ultimately the penthouse, which was confirmed by the sound of the front door shutting behind him. Once that happened, Mitsuru let her shoulders droop slightly. “I’m getting too old. These long days are starting to really take a toll on me mentally.”

Yukari giggled and broke free from Mitsuru’s grip, only to move behind her and massage her shoulders. “Don’t say you’re getting old, because that means I’m also too old! I think it’s because your work hours are absolutely ridiculous. We need to go on a vacation or something.”

Mitsuru allowed herself to relax, and rolled her neck. “As nice as that sounds, now would be the worst time to do so. The Phantom Thieves are at large now, and we have to be ready for when they strike next.”

“It’s been a month and a half since that break-in, though. Do you think that maybe the Phantom Thieves gave up or something? Normally the robberies would occur once or twice a month, but ever since their ‘reemergence’, they’ve only performed two jobs. I’m no expert, but what if the Phantom Thieves aren’t the guilty party?”

“As much as I’d like to think that, that cat Morgana being linked to the Phantom Thieves combined with the footage we captured would say otherwise.”

Mitsuru broke away from Yukari, set down the file of Morgana she was still holding, and began to make her way into the living room with Yukari close behind. “But don’t worry Yukari, I haven’t forgotten you’re also suspicious of Akechi-kun.”

“Hell yeah I am!” Yukari cried out, moving to the kitchen to pour two glasses of wine while Mitsuru sat down in her favorite reading chair. The open concept penthouse allowed their conversation to continue undisturbed. “He was declared missing years ago, and then we just suddenly find him and he has no problem with our offer to work for us? Not to mention we know next to nothing about him!”

“I’m aware, Yukari, but Akechi-kun is extremely good at what he does. The files on the Phantom Thieves he delivered tonight are a good showcase of that. For now, we’ll just need to proceed with caution, as we have been.”

Yukari placed a glass of wine on the coffee table in front of Mitsuru, who smiled warmly at her wife. “Thank you, Yukari. But yes, I completely agree with you. I also believe that he isn’t telling us his full story. He claims he has had no interactions with the Phantom Thieves, but he must have discovered at least something. I imagine he at least was able to question Ren Amamiya before he faked his death.”

“Yeah, that would make sense. But I wonder wh-” She was cut off when her phone rang in a ringtone that indicated it was one of their friends. Mitsuru took a sip of her wine while Yukari picked up her phone to answer.

“Hey, Junpei! What’s up? ... Ugh, can you stop calling me that? I’m thirty, for God’s sake. Only Mitsuru could call me that and it would still work.”

Mitsuru fought back a mild chuckle, and flipped to the next page of her book.

“Oh, really? … I mean, you don’t really have to... … Why wouldn’t we? We do that every time you come here anyways, ya damn moron.”

Mitsuru looked up from her book, raising an eyebrow. Yukari caught her expression and held her hand to the phone to muffle the speaker. “Junpei says that Akechi already sent the notice out. He said he’d leave the kids with some family friends, then they’ll come to Tokyo tonight on the bullet train. He wants to know if we don’t mind letting him crash here.”

“Of course he can, there’s a reason we made sure our home had several bedrooms when we bought it. Do bullet trains run this late from Kyoto to Tokyo?” Mitsuru asked, glancing at a nearby clock to reveal the time was 9:36 at night.

“Hey, Junpei. Is there even a bullet train that runs all the way to Tokyo this late? … Huh, I didn’t know that. So, are you gonna make it? … Ok. We can send a car for you then. Just keep us updated. … See ya later.”

Yukari hung up and placed her phone back on the coffee table, then stood up and stretched. “It seems like we’re gonna have some guests tonight, hun! Junpei’s gonna catch one of the last trains from Kyoto to Tokyo tonight. They’ll be here around midnight, maybe a bit later.”

Setting down her book, Mitsuru got up as well, running a hand through the roots of her hair. “We have some preparations to make. I think the sheets in the guest rooms need changing. Do you mind giving me a hand…” Mitsuru dropped her voice a little, and angled her head slightly. “Yuka-tan?”

Yukari’s face would have immediately turned to a pout if it weren’t for the rare, genuine yet smooth smile Mitsuru gave her, and the sexually-charged way she said it. Instead, her mind just turned to putty, and her cheeks went flush. It wasn’t often that Mitsuru teased her like that. But she sure liked it when it does happen.

“O-Oh, uh, sure. Definitely. Ugh, get it together, Yukari…”

Mitsuru chuckled, planted a kiss on Yukari’s cheek, and silently made her way to the guest bedroom Junpei would be using.

Yukari took several seconds to compose herself, then wordlessly followed.

\----------

Junpei Iori never took anything for granted. 

Even the simple things, Junpei was thankful for. The ability to search up anything on a smartphone, to eating good food, to having an irreplaceable group of friends that he can confide in.

Junpei didn’t even take living for granted. He just felt lucky to be alive.

The man didn’t always have this mindset, however. It was only in 2009, the year he was in S.E.E.S, when he was taught the value of life. The value of living life to the fullest moment. The value of not thinking about your impending death. Junpei had a temporary experience of what it was like knowing you were going to die in the coming months, and he didn’t want to relive that depressive episode again.

Even if he doesn’t know when death might come for him, he does know that he needs to live life to the fullest every single day. He learned that the most from two important lessons. The first was his dear friend who lived her best life, and because of that, was able to die happily while saving the world in the process.

The other lesson was the redhead sleeping in the seat next to him, their hands interlocked and her head on his shoulder. 

Chidori Yoshino. A living miracle, and the love of his life.

Just the thought of her in his arms on that full moon night over a decade ago was enough to put him in tears, and he couldn’t help but allow a small sniffle to escape. Unbeknownst to him, it also was just enough to stir Chidori from her sleep.

She opened her eyes to see Junpei biting his lower lip as he looked out the window of the bullet train, tears pooling in his eyes. Her reaction was instinctual to her, moving her free hand up to his cheek to wipe his eyes.

“Thinking about it again?” She whispered, but she was smiling. A rare smile of pure love that warmed Junpei’s heart.

“Sorry. It’s kinda hard to not think about it sometimes, ya know?” He replied, sighing, already feeling more at ease. “But on the bright side, it does make me very thankful to have you here with me.”

Overhead, an announcement chimed that the train would be arriving into Tokyo within the next ten minutes.

Chidori squeezed his hand, neither of them paying much attention to the announcement. “I can say the same to you, Junpei. You taught me that life is worth living, and there isn’t anybody else I would want to spend it with.”

Junpei did his best to hide his blush, but there wasn’t really anywhere to go when you were confined to a window seat on a train. Chidori didn’t pursue it any further, however, opting to lean on his shoulder and look out the window into the black night, where she realized something.

“Oh, Junpei, look. It’s a full moon tonight.”

He followed Chidori’s gaze, humming when he found it. “Hmm. That would explain why I had trouble sleeping during the train ride.”

It wasn’t much of an issue for Chidori, but Junpei and the rest of S.E.E.S. collectively had trouble sleeping on nights with a full moon. While they never openly discussed the reasoning behind their sleeping issue, it was pretty clear to all of them what was wrong. The first reason was that the full moon brought back many traumatic memories of pain, blood, tears, and scrapes with death. The second reason was loss. Loss of friends so close that S.E.E.S. considered them family. Even if one of those was for a good cause and could be called bittersweet, it still brought pain to Junpei and the rest of his friend group.

Chidori seemed to notice the unrest. “Don’t worry, Junpei. We’ll bring her back. Our plan has to work, I’m sure of it.”

“I sure hope so…” Junpei said, refusing to remove his gaze from the moon, as if afraid that what lay hidden inside it would come back at any point in time.

The two of them were quiet for the rest of the train ride.

\----------

Mitsuru and Yukari had finished preparing the guest rooms, the guest bathrooms, changed into nightwear, and were halfway through a movie by the time they got a buzz from the building’s intercom.

“Stay put, I’ll get it.” Mitsuru grumbled begrudgingly as she slipped out of the blanket the two were cuddling under, and made her way towards the front door. She held down a button on the intercom system, calling out “Yes?”

_“Hey, it’s us! Can you buzz us in?”_

Mitsuru pushed another button on the intercom. “It’s open. I’ll unlock the front door for you, too.”

The redhead released the button, turned the deadbolt on their front door to unlock, then turned around to see Yukari was already out from under the blanket, standing next to the couch.

“Why did you get up? I was going to come back, it was quite comfortable under there.”

“That wouldn’t really be respectful for our guests though, would it?” Yukari half-sighed, half yawned. “I’ll get some decaf tea ready. How about peppermint?”

“That sounds magnifique, thank you. But here, let me help you. I’m not doing anything else.”

The couple was midway through pouring out the tea through a strainer into a pot when the front door opened, followed by a loud “What is _up_ , ladies?!”, a sigh of disapproval from behind him, and a soft-spoken “pardon the intrusion.”

“Can you not do that, Junpei?” Yukari groaned, massaging her temples. “Mitsuru and I were enjoying a nice, quiet night, and you had to come in and be all loud.”

Mitsuru, on the other hand, acted more hospitable. “Welcome Junpei, Chidori. How was the journey?”

“It was uneventful,” Chidori answered, stepping past Junpei into the penthouse proper. “But nice. How are you two doing?”

“The usual. Mitsuru’s drowning in KG work, and I’m drowning in Neo Fetherman work.” Yukari balanced a tray with a teapot and 4 cups atop it. She set it down on a low table in a traditional-style seating area off of the kitchen. “I’d kill for a vacation right now, but being on standby kind of messes that up. Maybe we could find time for a spa day…” Yukari trailed off, more to herself than to the others in the room.

Mitsuru sat at the table, motioning for her guests to do the same. “A spa day does sound quite nice. Perhaps this Sunday, Yukari? You’re invited as well, Chidori, should our plans work out.”

Junpei made a sound mid sip. “Mmm… This time, I know better than to ask if I can tag along… Even though I want to.”

“At least you finally have the decency to not directly ask.” Yukari said after a sip of tea. “The answer is no, by the way. Just as it’s always been. And will ever be. A girl’s spa day out with friends is sacred, and should be untouched by guys.”

Junpei winced, and Chidori had to suppress a smile as she comforted him. “I’d love to go to the arcades in Akihabara again, Junpei. That can be something for just the two of us.”

He seemed to brighten up at that, and the four of them launched into random conversations, briefly forgetting the potential peril that brought them together in the first place.

\---------

“So, a cat with superpowers, huh? Guess that’s not too hard to believe. Koromaru was basically the same, minus the talking.” Junpei said, yawning.

“I agree, but I’d still like to know where Akechi got the info…” Yukari wondered aloud, her head resting on Mitsuru’s lap while she studied Ren Amamiya’s file.

It was nearly four in the morning, and Chidori had gone to bed hours ago, but what Yukari called the “Full Moon Curse” was in full effect. With Mitsuru, Yukari, and Junpei all unable to sleep, they decided to look at the case files of the potential Phantom Thieves until they could stay awake no longer. 

“Personally, I think he’s lying when he said he never had genuine interactions with the Phantom Thieves.” Mitsuru said, her free hand running through Yukari’s hair. “Maybe he didn’t know them for long, as this information isn’t extraordinarily detailed, but he must have uncovered their identities at some point.”

“My guess would be he found it all out during an interrogation just before Ren Amamiya faked his death.” Yukari said, half bored. “Although I wonder how he made it convincing enough for the entire police force to believe he was actually dead. And how would he even escape the morgue? He had to have some sort of inside help, right?”

“Eh, maybe he used those invisibility powers to get away? I mean, if he was left alone in a cell and hid in the shadows, he could have easily slipped out the next time the cell door was opened.” Junpei offered.

Yukari pointed a finger lazily at him. “I’d agree with you, except he would have been reported as missing instead of dead.”

“The police force was corrupted as shit back then, right? It was all in Shido’s pocket. Maybe Shido told them to make it look like a suicide if he escaped somehow. People would have voted for the candidate that utilized Amamiya’s death as a way of saying ‘hey, this country is messed up with these thieves running around, we need to change things’ or something. I dunno, I’m kinda rambling at this point.”

Yukari groaned loudly, allowing the back of her hand to slap onto her face. “We’re not gonna get anywhere speculating when it’s this late and we’re super tired. Besides, isn’t this what the Investigation Team is for? They’re the crime solvers, not us.”

Mitsuru set down Amamiya’s file and sighed. “Fair point. Tomorrow, I’ll give Yu a call and let him know we have some potential suspects to look through. For now though, I think we should at least attempt to get some sleep, as fruitless as it may be.”

“Nah, you’re probably right. If I could sneak in two hours, I’d be ecstatic.” Junpei said. He slowly stood up, stretching. “By the way, it’s been awhile since I asked this so I wanna check in. How’s Operation Feed The Beast going?”

Yukari and Mitsuru stood up as well, the former gathering up the tea set while the latter answered Junpei’s question. “Progress is slow, but we are at least making progress. Our first test should be in around two month’s time. After that, we’ll analyze the results, consult with Elizabeth, and go from there.”

“Do you think it’ll work?” He asked nervously, afraid of a negative answer.

“We’re not sure.” Yukari said, coming back to stand at Mitsuru’s side. “But it’s the best option we have right now.”

“I see… I really hope it works, you two. I really miss her.”

For a fraction of a second, Mitsuru’s regal demeanor broke in a pained twitch. “We all miss her, Junpei.”

Yukari was immediately grabbing onto her wife’s hand, squeezing tight. “It’ll work. I know it will.”

“But what if it doesn’t, Yukari?”

Yukari had no good response to Junpei’s question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I return from hiatus, and in a major way, too!
> 
> Overall, it was quite successful. I don't have the full story planned just yet, but I do have an idea on what the next major series of events will be, along with some good ideas on how I want to continue the story. I probably couldn't give an accurate idea on when it would end just yet, but if I had to guess, we would be maybe about... just under halfway in terms of number of words? Although take that with a grain of salt, it's subject to change and most likely will change.
> 
> Alright, let's talk about story stuff first: A lot of bombs dropped this chapter! People might be surprised at the very casual way I dropped the Akechi bomb, but I felt that it was a really natural place to put it. I'm not gonna say anything more about that!
> 
> Next is the introduction of Yukari, Junpei, and Chidori. Unfortunately I've kinda fallen off on playing P3 so I opted to watch all the movies. Personally, I really enjoyed the way Yukari and Mitsuru's relationship grew throughout the duration of the game, which is why I paired them here. And then Junpei with Chidori because goodness those two are the best together. It also makes me super happy to hear that canonically, Chidori actually survived. And since I like to follow canon, it means I can include it!
> 
> I also revealed a little bit about what the Kirijo Group might be up to, but for now the rest of their goals shall be shrouded in mystery!
> 
> Oh yeah, and all the Phantom Thieves are starting to lose their minds and their moral compasses due to their recent constant failures and mistakes. That can only end well... And fun fact: Futaba is canonically autistic! Her voice actor, Erica Lindbeck, played Futaba as if she had ASD, and many of the common symptoms are also some of her defining traits. In my opinion Atlus handled it really well via leaving many signs if you know what to look for, but also not drawing much attention to it, as people with ASD will typically desire. Well done in that regard, Atlus! Now if only you were better about queer characters...
> 
> Now, moving onto other stuff: Obviously, this is my longest chapter by far. And more obviously, I would never be able to pump out something at this length every week. So, I'm going to be revoking my one post a week schedule. Instead, I'll just post whenever a chapter is done, and the chapters will probably be around this length instead. I've been writing this chapter on and off over the past month, and it's been a lot more entertaining writing when I want to, as opposed to writing to make a deadline. So I do apologize for the less frequent updates, but at least you get to sit down, settle in, and read for a longer chunk of time!
> 
> On that note though, since these are much longer chapters, I won't be able to realistically catch every grammatical mistake or weird sounding sentence. If you guys find something that sounds off or some other grammatical error, let me know so I can fix it!
> 
> I believe that's everything I wanted to mention, so until next time everyone!


	35. Meeting Your Idols

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter originally didn't exist, but I wanted to release at least something before the holidays, where I wouldn't be doing much writing. Happy Holidays, everyone!

“How has it been three months, and not a single one of you imbeciles have found where the Phantom Thieves are hiding?!”

_“It has been quite tough to locate them, sir. Aside from their debut at our nightclub and the brief robbery on that Kirijo Group house, there have been no appearances. We imagine they’ve been in hiding this entire time. We’re unsure if Amamiya even lived the shot to the head, since he wasn’t at the scene of the house heist.”_

“So, they choose to hide and cower in fear when the stakes are raised? That is no fun at all… No, this is nothing like the game I have been looking forward to for so long.”

_“Sir?”_

“I think it’s high time we give them a little incentive to move into action. Make something happen, or it will be your head next. Am I clear?”

_“Crystal, sir.”_

\----------

“There’s too many of them for only the four of us to handle! We need to retreat!”

Mitsuru’s breath was ragged and heavy as she narrowly avoided another light arrow from an archangel’s spear, the energy smashing and uprooting the pavement behind her. She barely had time to take a breath before another bolt came out of nowhere from her right. She turned to dodge, but wasn’t quick enough. The light energy cut through her abdomen cleanly, creating a hole through her stomach, and she crumpled to the ground.

“MITSURU!” She could faintly hear Yukari’s terrified scream over the ringing in her ears. “Aigis! Cover me!”

Mitsuru could barely register what was happening until she felt arms covered in blood and missing chunks of skin close around her stomach, followed by a shout of “DIARAHAN!” 

Things began to feel like they were happening in reverse. The fading feeling was weakening, her senses were coming back to her, and Mitsuru could even feel her own flesh and blood repairing itself out of thin air. After several seconds, her vision fully returned, and she was looking into the eyes of a teary-eyed Yukari.

“DON’T DIE ON ME NOW, MITSURU! GET UP! FUCK!”

Despite her body physically healing, Mitsuru couldn’t mentally recover. Her hearing was still fuzzy, and she could barely feel the arms around her, but she was able to see the sword that suddenly appeared through Yukari’s abdomen, her face contorted in a demented form of pure shock.

“YUKARI!” Mitsuru screeched, attempting to reach out to her wife. To her dismay, her arms felt like jelly and refused to cooperate, while Yukari simply smiled while speaking in such a soft yet firm voice. Mitsuru was surprised she even heard her.

“Mitsuru, wake up.”

Then, Mitsuru opened her eyes.

Looking down over her was a very concerned, yet very non-injured Yukari. The CEO let out a long, shaky sigh of relief while Yukari gently brushed her hair.

“Bad dream?”

Mitsuru allowed herself about half a minute of Yukari’s gentle touch before replying. “Nightmare. We were back in Tokyo 2016, except this time things weren’t faring so well for us…”

She realized her voice sounded a little bit shaky, and Yukari caught onto that. “It’s ok, Mitsuru. I’m here. I’m alive. We all are.” As if to expedite the point, Yukari closed the distance between the two, hugging against her tightly. “And I’m never going to let anything happen to you.”

Neither of them said anything for a little while, just enjoying the closeness and protection that each other’s embrace brought the other. Mitsuru did take the opportunity to glance at the digital clock on her nightstand, and inwardly groaned when she saw it was 5:51. _Only an hour and a half of sleep, at best… I despise the Full Moon Curse._

With the lack of sleep she got, along with her nightmare, there was no way Mitsuru would make it through the day without ingesting copious amounts of caffeine. She wasn’t particularly fond of that idea, though.

“Yukari?”

There was no response for several seconds, but eventually a muffled response came from just under Mitsuru’s neck, where Yukari’s face was currently planted. “Yes, Mitsuru?”

“What if we took today off? I think I need that spa day sooner than expected.”

Yukari removed herself from Mitsuru’s neck in favor of initiating eye contact with her, smiling. “I think that sounds great. I’ll make a call and book us an appointment. Did you want to do just the massage and facial, or the total package deal?”

“Whichever lasts longer, please. And make sure to book it for three, since Chidori is here too.” Mitsuru replied, yawning as she picked up her own phone. “While you do that, I’m going to cancel my daily meetings and briefings. I can imagine people won’t be happy with me, though…”

Yukari came up from behind Mitsuru, wrapping her arms around her neck. “That’s ok, hun. I’m sure nobody will be bothered by it. Although now that I’ve thought about it, who did you have meetings scheduled with today in the first place?”

\----------

“Seriously? Mitsuru called off our meeting for today?”

Rise set down her half-drunk coffee cup with a little more force than what would probably be required. “We got up this early for nothing? And now that I’ve had caffeine, there’s no hope of me getting back to sleep!”

“Hey, keep it down. You’re gonna wake the kids. But yeah, it kinda sucks.” Yu agreed, downing the last of his own coffee. “I could have gotten at least two extra hours of sleep. You, on the other hand, could do with being awake earlier. With how long it takes for you to wake up...” He paused and chuckled as Rise socked him in the arm playfully, “You at least won’t show up to your signing today half-dead like the last one that was in the morning.”

Rise struggled to refrain from rolling her eyes. “Yeah, I know, I know. I just wonder why they’d want to hold a signing Saturday morning in the first place.”

“You know it’s so all the closet fan salarymen can stop by on their way to work to meet you, right?”

This time, the eyes rolled. “Don’t remind me. That’s honestly the biggest reason as to why I hate early morning shoots, but those salarymen do pay our bills in concert tickets. In fact, they pay us well enough that you don’t have to find a more lucrative job, mister, so you better thank me!”

Yu grinned at her, and raised a hand to pinch her cheek lightly. “You know I’m thankful for you everyday... But especially your paycheck.”

The punch following that was much harder, and left Yu rubbing his arm. “Alright, alright. No more money jokes. Got it. Now go get ready, and I’ll make us some breakfast.”

…

Half an hour found the couple sitting at their dining table each over a plate of grilled fish, rice, and a bowl of miso soup. They ate in a comfortable silence, with Rise browsing Instagram while Yu was exchanging some messages. She decided to take a little peek at who he was talking to, and her brow raised slightly when she found out.

“You’re talking to Akechi-kun? Asking him for more details about that notice he sent out last night?”

Yu nodded, popping a clump of rice into his mouth. “Yeah. I was asking him if we could meet up to go over the case files of our suspects, but he said he left them with Mitsuru.”

“I would have thought Mitsuru would want us to know about that information as soon as possible. Now we probably won’t know anything until Monday.”

“I hope that isn’t the case, but I think I’ll just drop by the penthouse today anyway. I’m sure Mitsuru wouldn’t mind if I poked my head in to at least take some pictures of the files. It would be nice to at least know the suspects and their backgrounds.”

“Why not just ask for Mitsuru to take the pictures herself?”

“I did, but she never replied to me. I’m guessing her and Yukari are both going off the grid for today.”

“What about Akechi-kun? He doesn’t have backups of the files?”

“I didn’t ask him. But now that you mention it, I think having both his originals and the ones he gave to Mitsuru could be beneficial. I don’t think he’d expect me to go to Mitsuru’s place to cross check them with the ones he would send me.”

Rise finished her miso soup and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “You still don’t trust him?”

“Not really. Do you?”

“Hmm… I don’t _not_ trust him I guess, but I wouldn’t take anything he tells me as the truth either. But he’s smart; I don’t think he would give misinformation to either you or Mitsuru. The two of you would be bound to compare information at some point.”

“And that day will be today.” Yu declared, standing up after finishing up his breakfast. “I’m going to get ready to head over to Mitsuru’s. Are you heading out soon for your signing?”

“Crap, you’re totally right! I do need to leave within the next few minutes, so I should probably head out now. Keep me posted with all that stuff, ok?”

Yu nodded and leaned in to give Rise a short kiss as he picked up her breakfast plate and bowl. “You’ll be the first to know. Now, shoo. Enjoy meeting with all the creepy salarymen fanboys!”

It took almost all of Rise’s self-restraint to not sock Yu in the head on her way out.

\----------

“Thank you very much for coming, and it was great meeting you!”

Rise held her smile as the last person in the current queue of her signing line left, and waited patiently for her manager to declare to the others in line that she would be taking a short break. The smile held until she made it to the backroom of the venue in Shibuya’s underground shopping mall, where she sighed and slumped into a chair.

“This is soooo tiring, I can’t do this as near as well as I used to… Ugh, I’m getting old.”

“Don’t you dare say that, cuz then that means I’m getting old too, and I’ll have you know I’m still alive and kicking at max capacity!”

Rise rolled her head to look at the source of the energetic voice, her eyes half lidding. “You want to do this for hours, then? Be my guest.”

“Ah, well, uh… Alright, you got me. Just hang in there, ok? You only got like thirty minutes left, then you don’t have to deal with all those people anymore.”

“Don’t take it the wrong way, I do appreciate and love all my fans for helping me get to where I am today. It’s just really tiring sometimes, ya know?”

“No, I don’t know, actually. But I’ve known you long enough to completely understand what you mean!”

“And that’s why you’re one of my best friends. I didn’t even have or need security detail for this, so I do appreciate you at least hanging out here, Chie. Some of these salarymen can get kinda creepy...”

Chie Satonaka smirked and faux-saluted her friend. “Anytime! Although, I do have to admit I kinda had other reasons to help than just because you’re my friend. Youske miiiiight have told me he wanted a signed copy of your newest poster… Which I won’t ever stop giving him shit for. He’s such a weirdo. You’d think him being close friends with you for a decade is enough, right?”

Rise giggled and stood up to go and grab a spare poster and sharpie from a nearby table. “You’d think, huh? But Youske is Youske.” She signed it in her usual specialized greeting she always did for Youske, then grinned as she capped the sharpie. “Besides, I’m not the person who’s dating him.”

“Listen, you…” Chie grumbled, staring her friend down. “...Don’t you have some fans to go meet or something?”

“And don’t you have to go bodyguard an idol or something?”

The two bickered lightheartedly as they headed back out to the signing room and all the way to Rise’s seat. One of the managers of the event went to go let the next group of people in, while Chie took her position leaning against the wall somewhere behind the idol.

Rise rolled her neck as the next set of fans came in, and allowed herself one last quick check of her phone notifications. _Let’s see… A text from Mitsuru saying Yu was gonna go examine the files since she’s out, a few messages in the Shadow Operatives chat, and some instagram li-_

“H-Hello, Risette! I’m a b-big fan!”

Rise looked up from her phone with a start to see a girl with long orange hair wearing a black beanie, punk shorts with knee-high black boots, and a long-sleeved white shirt with small gashes along the sleeves. Red headphones were hanging around her neck, and to top it off, she had huge round glasses.

“O-Oh! Um, thank you!” Rise said back sheepishly. A girl looking like this was far from what she was expecting to run into on an early Saturday morning. If there even were girls to begin with, they would either be wearing school uniforms or business suits.

Rise felt bad, but she couldn’t help but ask the question on her mind. “Are you supposed to be in school right now? Because I don’t condone skipping school, you know!”

The orange-haired girl rolled her eyes, sighing. “I’ve already graduated university with a double major and run a successful privately-owned business. So no, I’m not supposed to be in school.”

Well, that was a first. Rise had seen and heard many things while doing her many signings but something like this had never happened. What made it even crazier was the fact that this girl pulled a complete 180, going from shy to sassy in mere seconds. Behind her, Chie was doing her best to keep a giggle to herself. She was quite unsuccessful at it.

_Well, always gotta please the fans, I suppose… Don’t get sassy, don’t get sassy..._ “Ah, I see! Sorry about that, you look so young I mistook you for a schoolgirl! And that’s a compliment!” The normal, guarded yet practiced smile was back on, and as she started to reach for one of the posters she was signing and giving away, the girl replied.

“Eh, you’re fine. I get that all the time. And let’s be honest, I don’t exactly look like somebody who could run a business, even if it’s just some random freelance coding crap.”

_Oh thank God, a conversation I can actually flow with._ “Never judge somebody by what they look on the outside! I’ll have you know I have a friend who looks like he could be in a biker gang. He’s big and buff and could knock you out in a single punch, but he knits, makes dresses and quilts, and does other random textile stuff for a living.”

The girl giggled in a manner Rise could only describe as a gremlin and nodded back at her, grinning. “I know what you mean! I have an almost sister-in-law that does her best to remain super calm about everything on the outside, but if you piss her off or mess with her family, you’d need to run fast before she goes into total overprotective mom mode and comes after you!”

“That sounds a lot like my friends, actually! Minus the mom mode. Nobody in my friend group is really qualified to be a mom…” Rise replied while looking back briefly to Chie, who gave her somewhat of a stink eye. The girl noticed the exchange, too.

“Is she one of those friends in your friend group?”

“Yeah. She works as a private security detail for me and another huge tech conglomerate after quitting the police force a few years ago.” Rise snickered, then leaned in close to the girl and whispered, “But between you and me, the only reason she got the job was because we’re friends with the CEO.”

The girl got a good chuckle out of that as Chie angrily spoke up behind Rise. “That’s bullshit! I bet I could have been a member of the Kirijo Group even if Mitsuru wasn’t our friend!”

It was almost a total 180. The girl, who had definitely become more relaxed as the conversation went on, immediately turned back to her rigid, awkward looking self when she first walked up. “U-Uh, the Kirijo Group? You work for them?”

Rise almost said yes, but then remembered that people probably shouldn’t know about that. Instead, Chie answered for the two of them. “Risette doesn’t, but I do, yeah.”

The girl said nothing, but her eyes kept desperately looking to her left. Rise followed her gaze to see a figure leaning against the wall outside the venue. They were wearing a hood so Rise didn’t know what they looked like, but she could definitely feel that they were watching the exchange. 

Chie seemed to notice it too. “Alright, girlie, you’ve been holding up the line. I think it’s time you get your poster and move on, yeah?”

“Oh, right. Yeah.” She said, nodding her head.

“Of course!” Rise exclaimed, attempting to bring up the mood. She grabbed a poster from the stack and uncapped a nearby sharpie. “You were a delight to talk to. What’s your name so I can write it on the poster?”

“Uhh… Oracle.”

“Oracle? That’s your name?”

“Erm, it’s a nickname that I go by. I’d prefer that name, please.”

“Sure thing!” Rise said as she signed the poster with ‘Thank you for the wonderful conversation, Oracle! Love, Risette’ “How about this?” She asked, handing over the poster.

“It looks great! Thank you for taking up so much time to talk to me, too.”

“Again, just between you and me, but it’s a great break from all the salarymen.” Rise giggled, the other girl joining her half-heartedly. “Well, have a good day, Oracle!”

“Thanks! You too, Risette!”

As she walked off, Rise couldn’t help adopting a thinking pose, putting her hand to her chin. “She was a bit of a strange one, Chie. But I felt like… Something. Some sort of subconscious connection. I’m not sure how to explain it.”

Chie moved from behind Rise to her side, so Rise could see her. “No no, I actually agree. There was some sort of connection. I felt it too. It felt like something familiar, but also not.”

“Huh. I’d brush it off if it was just me thinking that, but if you thought that too…” She exclaimed, and briefly looked out the window to see the orange-haired girl jumping up and down in front of the hooded figure, showing them the poster excitedly.

Her thinking was cut short as her phone vibrated. She almost picked it up, but the next fan was already in front of her. _I guess I’ll just check it later._

“Good morning! Thank you for coming to my fan meeting!”

\----------

“Whew, that was the last one. Finally, we’re done!”

Rise got up from her seat and stretched, Chie doing the same from her seat next to the idol. “And not a moment sooner. These meetings are always so boring for me, I just have to sit here and do nothing except occasionally tell a dude to stop being creepy.”

“Still, it’s better to be safe rather than sorry. I don’t want another repeat of that attempted kidnapping a few years ago…”

“And that,” Chie said, poking Rise on the shoulder, “Is why I quit the force and went private. So I can protect the people I care about instead of spending my days breaking up bar fights between drunk dudes that treat female cops like shit.”

“And you know I’m very appreciative of you for doing that, even if I can’t pay you as well as the police force can.” Rise said as she unlocked her phone to check her messages.

“Between this and Mitsuru paying us for our SO gig, money isn’t much of a problem for me. Hell, I’d probably have enough money to upsize if Youske decides to finally give up his manager position and Junes and move to Tokyo to live with me. That bird brain…”

Rise giggled. “I could never figure out how the two of you got together, even if my life depended on it. Actually, I still don’t think I could, even today.”

“If it’s any consolation to you, I don’t know either.” Chie said, shrugging. “I just really like him, ya know? Sure, he’s a goofball and a dunce and a bunch of other things, but between all the arguing he and I just gel well. Although- hey, what’s up? Is everything ok?”

Chie’s eyebrows furrowed at Rise, who was staring at her phone completely slack-jawed. She moved behind Rise to take a look at her screen, and promptly went “wait what the fuck?!”

Staring back at them from Rise’s phone screen was a picture of the case files of the Phantom Thieves that Akechi had gathered for them. And one of the first pictures was of an orange-haired girl with large glasses that covered half her face. And if there was any doubt, it was cast away by the text under her picture.

**NAME:** Futaba Sakura, a.k.a. ‘Oracle’.

\----------

Ren was sitting at the bar upstairs when Futaba and Ann got home. He waved at Ann in thanks, who smiled and nodded before heading downstairs. Futaba, meanwhile, took a seat next to him.

“So, uh… I got some news that you’d never expect to hear.”

“I always expect the unexpected. Hit me.”

“Risette apparently is close friends with Mitsuru Kirijo. And her personal bodyguard works for them, too.”

“...Huh. Alright, that is unexpected. Not exactly what I thought I’d hear when you told me you wanted to go to a signing for Risette, and definitely not what I wanted to hear when we’re planning to raid the Kirijo Group labs tomorrow night.”

Ren sighed and scratched the back of his head as he digested the new information. “The Kirijo Group really has their influences everywhere… I wonder what would have brought Mitsuru Kirijo and Risette together in the first place. But enough of that. Did they recognize you at all? You didn’t give them your name, did you?”

Futaba crossed her arms, cocking her head to the side. “Who do you take me for? Of course I didn’t! I told her my nickname was Oracle, which nobody will know about since only we know each other’s nicknames. If anybody needs to be careful, it’s gonna be you and Makoto. You two are the only ones whose identities are publicly known as Phantom Thieves.”

“I know that. I just… can’t help but worry.” Ren said softly, resting a hand on Futaba’s shoulder. That seemed to sober up the gremlin, who pulled him in for a tight hug.

“I know. But don’t worry, I was safe. And Ann watched over me from afar so if there was any trouble, she would have stepped in.”

The siblings broke up the hug, and Futaba was back to her normally bubbly self. “Besides, Risette totally loved me! I even talked to her for a few minutes!”

“Sounds like you two would get along well.”

“Yeah! If only things weren’t like this. Maybe in a parallel universe she’s a fan of the Phantom Thieves and would dream of meeting me!”

Ren smiled fondly. “Well, given her public opinion that the Phantom Thieves are heroes, I don’t think it’s in a parallel universe. Although, she has yet to say anything about our rocky comeback, and since she’s in with the Kirijo Group, she’s got to have heard about the break-in…”

“Geez, do you always have to bring things down?”

“Not trying to. Just being realistic. Look, Futaba…” Ren sighed, placing both his hands on Futaba’s shoulders. “You know that I enjoy banter just as much as you, but these past couple of months have taught me something. I just… can’t afford to not be serious about this. If one of us died in the Metaverse, we could just bring them back to life. And we died quite a bit. All of us did. But now, the luxury of reversing our mistakes was taken away from us. Morgana can’t bring us back from the dead. Makoto can’t make our skin as hard as steel anymore. Yusuke can’t make us quicker or give us faster reflexes. You can’t hover in the sky and give us perfect layouts of the places we infiltrate. We have none of that anymore, and now, when people look to me for advice, or help, or what to do next, I have to lead everyone just the same way as I did back then, except this time, there can’t be any mess-ups. So I have to be realistic. I’m sorry.”

Futaba stared at him for several seconds, then shrugged his hands off her shoulders. “I get where you’re coming from, but you could at least be a little bit less of a killjoy. I’m heading downstairs; I’ll be in my lair if ya need me.”

She brushed past him and around the bar, heading downstairs to the hideout proper. Once she was gone, Ren’s forehead collapsed into the woodwork of the bar with a dull thud. His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out begrudgingly to see it was Sojiro.

**_Sojiro:_ ** _Hey, kid. Had a couple of police officers around here this morning, asking about you. I told them you’ve moved out years ago and have no idea what you and Futaba are up to, but it seems like they’re finally picking up the pace. I also had some other goons over here yesterday, asking about you. I told them the same thing. Seems they’re really cracking down on finding you lot. Stay safe out there._

The leader groaned, his head falling back on the countertop.

_How the fuck have I even made it this far?_

\----------

“Mitsuru, you have 9 missed calls from Rise, and 5 from Chie.” Yukari called out immediately after Mitsuru came out from her shower stall, one towel around her body while another wrapped her hair.

The CEO sighed heavily upon hearing Yukari read off her notifications. “Didn’t they see the message saying I was taking today off?”

I’d imagine so, but it must be something important, given how urgently they are trying to reach you.” Chidori piped up as she grabbed her clothing from a rented locker.

Even with her long morning and midday spa appointment, Mitsuru wouldn't exactly say she felt completely relaxed. Chalk it up to the fact that there’s a strong possibility of a group of heroes and persona users gone into something that could be called domestic terrorism with their motives unknown, and it would be easy to see why one half day at a spa was too little to do anything.

Well, like they say, evil never rests. “Seems like we’ll need to cut our spa day a little short. Did they leave a voicemail, at least?” She asked, drying her hands so she could take the phone from Yukari.

“Nope. Just a text from Rise asking you to call her back as soon as you can. Here you go.” Yukari replied as she handed the phone over to her wife. “I’m gonna get dressed, then go to the front desk to cancel the massage. At least we got to do the sauna and hot springs…”

“Wait, hold on. Let me call Rise first, and then depending on how urgent it is, we can decide whether to leave now or continue on with our day.”

Yukari gave Mitsuru a look. “Really? I would have thought you’d get back to work, no questions asked. I’m surprised that you even mentioned leaving it until later.”

“If it was life or death, we probably would have been contacted by actual Kirijo Personnel by now.”

“True… Well, make the call, I guess.”

Mitsuru selected Rise’s contact and called the number, the idol picking up before she could even finish bringing her phone to her ear.

_“OH MY GOD Misturu where have you been?! I’ve got some freakin huge news for you!”_

Mitsuru fought back the urge to audibly sigh. “What could be so important that you called me so many times, yet I was never alerted of a high risk emergency?”

_“Well, I guess it isn’t exactly an emergency, but I came into contact with a Phantom Thief! The one called Oracle!”_

Her mood flipped like a light switch. “What the hell are you talking about, that’s _absolutely_ an emergency! What happened? Where did this happen?”

As Yukari frowned and exited the room to cancel the rest of the day, Rise continued on. _“It was at my fan meeting. She was one of my fans who I spoke to and signed a poster for.”_

“And you did nothing about it? No confronting, no anything? Did you at least have Chie go after her?”

_“We didn’t know! We didn’t get the pictures of the Thieves until after she was long gone, so there was no way we could have done anything,_ unless _the meeting you scheduled with Yu and I wasn’t cancelled for your impromptu day off…”_

Fortunately, Rise couldn’t see Mitsuru visibly wince. “I know, that’s my fault. I take full responsibility for it. Can we meet at my place in a couple of hours to go over everything, including what you and Chie experienced today?”

_“Hmm, that depends… Will you cancel last minute again?”_

“Rise, I’m sorry, I’ll buy sushi for all of us-”

She was cut short by giggling from the other line. _“Relaaaaax, Mitsuru. I’m just messing with you. Chie, Yu and I will be there! And now that you mentioned sushi, you better have some, too!”_

Mitsuru couldn’t resist a small laugh. “I’ll be sure to get some. I’ll see you tonight.”

She hung up, sighing as she did so, and just in time for Yukari to walk back in. “Well? What happened? It sounded like Rise was pretty worked up, so I just went ahead and canceled the rest of our day.”

Mitsuru crossed her arms, looking off somewhere to the side. “Rise had an encounter with one of the Phantom Thieves at her fan meeting.”

“Oh, that is quite the news indeed. Which of the thieves was it?” Chidori asked, adjusting her headband as the finishing touch of her outfit.

“The one codenamed ‘Oracle’. The hacker and computer genius of their group.”

“Hm. I bet she and Fuuka would love to have a conversation with each other.” Yukari quipped. “Anyway, hurry up and get dressed, Mitsuru. Time to head home, and if I heard correctly, we have a stop to make for sushi, don’t we?”

“Don’t tell me you’re on her side?”

“Sushi is sushi, and I would never pass up an opportunity to have some!”

Mitsuru just rolled her eyes. “Dieu, aide moi…”

\----------

That night, Ren dreamt of the Velvet Room.

The old yet familiar clattering of chains was what made him shoot up into a stand. Even if he hadn’t heard it in over half a decade, the sound of the chains was something he could never forget.

And the same went for the man sitting behind his warden’s desk.

“My dear Trickster, welcome back to the Velvet Room. How nice it is to see you once more.” The real Igor’s higher pitched voice did allow the young man to breathe a sigh of relief. At least Yaldabaoth hadn’t returned.

At his side stood Lavenza, who smiled softly and offered a small bow. “Hello, Trickster. I’m glad I can finally speak with you after being with your presence for so long.”

A wide grin crossed Ren’s face, and he knelt down while opening his arms for Lavenza to run up to him for a hug. The two embraced, and he squeezed her tightly. “Thank you so much, Lavenza, for being such a great help to us already. And especially thank you for bringing Futaba’s memories back.”

She hummed in response, and a few seconds later, he let go of her to take a look around the prison room proper. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn’t actually in his cell, which was behind him, but rather in the main room itself. The chains in the cell he used to inhabit were still broken, and the door was still missing, but directly in front of it was a fancy blue and gold chaise lounge, which he realized was where he woke up. Last but not least, he looked down at his clothes to see he was in his old Phantom Thief attire, and touching his face confirmed his mask was there in its usual spot.

Finally, he turned his attention back to Igor, who had been patiently waiting for Ren to finish taking in the sights. “I have so many questions for you, Igor.”

The old man spread his arms wide, and his smile even wider. “Ask away, Trickster.”

“First one. Why am I back here? Is there another threat I need to take care of? I already have enough on my plate keeping everyone safe as it is.” The cocky and demanding tone he held surprised him, but then again, that bravado did tend to turn on whenever he donned the mask.

Igor was unphased at the snarky attitude. “I am not asking you to partake in another game, do not worry. Rather, I am here to help you.”

That took Ren off-guard. “Help me? Why?”

“Because my attendant requested that I do.”

Ren looked to Lavenza, who nodded. “Your request has proven quite difficult to accomplish on my own, Trickster, so I enlisted the help of my master. 

“Indeed, she has.” Igor said. “And if you’ll allow me, I must ridicule you for a moment. Are you aware how difficult it is to tinker with the very fabric on which this world exists, let alone to affect a small few in the crowd of billions?”

Taking a seat on the chaise lounge, Ren shrugged. “No, but I imagined the people who created an entire world must have had some sort of way to alter it. Not to mention that Lavenza did it once already.”

Lavenza winced, and Igor’s smile thinned a little. “Oh? Is that so, Lavenza?”

The petite girl immediately bowed fully in apology. “I’m sorry, Master, but the Trickster has run into extremely rough waters, and I felt the need to assist them. It is the least we can do for the Phantom Thieves after they saved us from Yaldabaoth.”

“And what of Erebus? Have you informed your sister so she may investigate if your alterations have made a difference?”

“I… have not, no. I did not think a small altercation would matter.”

Igor was silent for a while, then waved a hand at Lavenza dismissively. “Even if that is the likely story, please go and do so. It is better to be safe, than sorry.”

Lavenza nodded, and after giving Ren a small smile, she exited the room through a door that he had never seen before that took the place of one of the many cells surrounding the room.

“Who’s this ‘Erebus’ person? Do we need to worry about that?” Ren asked apprehensively, eyeing the mysterious old man.

Igor shook his head. “You do not. We are simply being overly cautious to prevent another Fall from occurring.”

“The way you say ‘Fall’ tells me it’s not the season you’re referring to.”

“Anywho, Trickster,” Igor continued, completely ignoring Ren, “You wish to alter the way this world works simply to assist you in your future exploits?”

Ren sighed, already tired of the cryptic way the man tended to talk. “Yes, I am. And just as Lavenza said, I think you owe me one for both saving the world, and saving you from imprisonment.”

Igor stared at Ren for a few moments, silently challenging his will. When the old man was satisfied, he leaned back in his chair. “I see the resolve in your eyes, Trickster, and I will accept your wish. I do have an idea in mind, but it will not be what you expect it to be.”

“As long as it can help us, it works for me. What is it?”

Igor’s grin widened, and he snapped his fingers. When he did so, Ren felt a sudden shift within him. Not only did he physically feel something sift through him, he also felt a mental change. It was as if he was shown endless possibilities, yet also left even more confused than before.

“What… did you do?” Ren asked, looking at his hands as if it would tell him the answer. Instead, it came from the man sitting at the desk in the middle of the room.

“What I have done is a medium. I did not alter the world as you know it, but I did bring a world that is filled with limitless possibilities within the grasp of those with the Potential.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“My dear Trickster, I have opened the pathway between your waking world, and what you call Shadow Tokyo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said at the beginning note, this chapter didn't exist. My plan was for chapter 35 to contain the beginnings of the actual heist. However, it isn't done yet, and the heist chapters can take quite a bit of time to write, so I did a little filler chapter instead just to provide some content before going on break for the holidays. 
> 
> Hopefully everyone has a great rest of December, and I'll see you all next year! :)


	36. Three Teams for Thee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With these longer chapters, I have a much harder time proofreading for errors. If there's a grammatical error or phrasing that sounds weird, please let me know so I can fix it!

_“So, how much would I have to pay one of you to shout ‘LEEROY JENKINS’ and charge into the lab at full speed? I got hella bank to back it up, ya know.”_

Joker had to resist the urge to scold Oracle from his position crouched against the wall, blending in with the shadows, as to not give away his position to the Kirijo Group laboratory guard directly ahead of him. Fortunately, Queen seemed to be able to speak, likely nowhere near any guards at the moment.

_“So help me Lavenza, Oracle, if you don’t take this life or death mission seriously I’m going to put you through the worst CQC training you could imagine for the next month.”_

Joker could hear laughing in the background from Oracle’s comms. _“If you guys could see Oracle’s face right now, she wou-”_

_“Ughhh, put a sock in it, Angel! You don’t even have an idea for what you want your permanent codename to be yet!”_

There was a rustling sound, which Joker guessed was Angel picking up her earpiece to speak with the rest of the team. _“Actually, I do. After seeing how codenames are sentimental to some of us, I think I want to stick with Angel. It suits me, and it has meaning behind it.”_

Ren could hear the audible groan from Queen on the other end, but it was Mona who replied first. _“Will you two shut up and get serious? I’m crammed here in a vent, waiting for Phoenix's signal, and Joker’s cover will be blown if you two get any louder and the guard hears the earpiece.”_

 _“Ok, ok, sheesh. Let’s go over the plan one more time, then, while we wait for Queen and Noir to finish getting into position.”_ Oracle sighed from over the comms, and for once Joker began to actually pay attention to what was being said. _“We have three teams. Team A, B, and C. Team A, consisting of Fox, Skull, and Panther, will be infiltrating site A, named the highrise, through a skylight in the rooftop. There’s a single camera on the roof and once they plug me into it, I can get into the system and put the cameras on a loop to make it look like nobody’s home._

_“Team B, consisting of Queen and Noir, are the lucky pair whose entrance to site B, the compound, is through a sewer fence that ultimately leads into a sewer manhole in the corner of the compound. With your strength you can break through the steel fence, then plug me into one of the cameras they have positioned in the sewer to also put you guys on loop. Fortunately it doesn’t seem security is all that tight there, so you two should have an easier job exploring the place._

_“And last but not least, team C, consisting of Phoenix, Mona, and Joker. You three are infiltrating site C, the offices. It’s the most heavily guarded, although lots of vents leading to the streets is their main weakness. We get Mona into a vent, which it sounds like he’s already done, he finds the nearest entrance that he can get to covertly, then lets you guys in. We already got access to one of their cameras through some great acrobatics by Phoenix, but their firewall in site C is a little tougher than the others, so on her signal, she’ll cut the feed by cutting the wire to the main power supply, Ren knocks out the guard, then Mona lets you both inside before the backup power restores camera feed. They may check it out, but if we do it as planned, the camera will only be down for a second or two, so it could be accredited to some random interference._

_"Unfortunately, we know next to nothing about each lab, so you’re gonna be flying blind for a little while. Angel and I will do our best to support you all through our limited information, but the primary objective for all three teams is to find a server or control room to plug my usb into, which should give us a lot more information to work with for each site. Team C, since you guys still have cameras to worry about, stick to the walls and find a room that you can get into for me to turn them to our side ASAP. After that, continue as planned. Each team will search their lab from top to bottom for a forensics machine that we could use to identify the fragment of the bullet each of you are carrying. It was hard enough breaking it, and I doubt we won’t get another one, so nobody lose your fragment. Once you get to a forensics machine, I’ll guide you through the process._

_"If a forensics machine isn’t in your team’s lab, then take pictures of anything and everything you deem worthy. Whether it’s files, a computer screen, a bathroom stall, I don’t care what as long as you think it could hold some value to our mission. We desperately need information on the Kirijo Group’s goals, methods, and findings if we’re gonna have a chance against these guys._

_"And lastly, don’t take anything with you. That’s why you all have cameras. We wanna be so stealthy they didn’t even know we were here until we’re gone, or even if we were ever here if we get lucky. So get in, be stealthy, get out. Any final questions?”_

_“Yeah, I got one. Queen, are you in position yet? If I have to sit on this tiny ledge with a 20 story drop below me for one more minute, I’m gonna lose it.”_

_“Sorry Panther, we just got here and are in position. We’re all coordinating our infiltrations to happen at the exact same time, right Oracle?”_

_“They don’t have to be all at the exact same time, but I wanted them to be close to each other, at least. Positions, everybody!”_

The comms were silent for a dozen or so seconds while everybody got in their position. Once each team gave a short confirmation, Phoenix began the whispered countdown.

_“Now, on my mark… 3… 2… 1… Mark!”_

\----------

Phoenix wasn’t sure if she had ever felt a greater rush of adrenaline than when she finished the countdown.

Even doing something as menial as cutting a small wire was a monumental symbolic task to her. Beforehand, she may have been a part of the Phantom Thieves and their crimes, but now, she was committing one herself. There was no going back after this point. She was cutting all her ties to society. Pun intended.

Using the small multitool pocket knife all thieves were equipped with, Phoenix pushed the small blade through the wire, slicing it instantly, then quickly set the panel hiding the wires back into place. By the time she did a quick screw or two with the knife tip on the bolt she loosened to get behind the panel to tighten it back into place, she could hear the sounds of a subdued struggle below her, followed by the quiet sound of a tranquilizer bullet being shot from the silenced pistol that Oracle had messed with to ensure maximum quietness.

“Joker here, the guard is down. Mona, get the door.”

As Joker gave their teammate the status report through the local comms channel, Sae carefully lowered herself from the narrow windowsill that she couldn’t believe she somehow managed to perch herself on. It was only an inch or two wide, but her heightened reflexes and strength drawing from her Persona kept her in balance. As she hit the ground, the door in front of them cracked open.

“Hurry! Get inside!”

“Grab the body.” Phoenix said quickly to Joker, then stepped over the black cat and into the building proper. Immediately pressing herself against the wall, she instinctively knew that the shadows lining the dimly lit corridor via the few lights on had consumed her, and she had become invisible. 

“We’re in. What’s the next step, Oracle?” Phoenix whispered into the comms back to HQ as she drew her silenced tranquilizer pistol, moving along the corridor once she heard Joker slip inside with the body. 

_“Oracle’s busy with team A, you guys got me for now.”_ Angel responded over the comms, and Phoenix could hear her frantically searching through her’s and Oracle’s notes for site C. _“Well, first of all, is the body disposed of?”_

Phoenix looked back to Joker, who was busy stuffing the body behind what looked like a janitorial cart, except if it had the purpose of cleaning up nuclear fallout. “Yes, he just finished, but…”

“That’s a heavy duty janitorial cart.” Joker muttered, finishing Phoenix’s statement. “Got some weird specialized looking tools, too. Couldn’t really say what their purposes are.”

 _“Take a picture and move on, then.”_ Angel replied. _“So based on what limited information we have about the floor plan, there’s a basement that you can reach by going down this hall, taking the second right, then going down the stairs. We don’t know if that will be the server room, but Oracle said she’d put money on it.”_

 _“1000 yen, then.”_ Joker said back, the cockiness evident in his voice. It made Phoenix realize that this was the first time she had seen the famous Phantom Thief in his true element, powers included. He wasn't as cocky as he was last time in Paradise. _“Phoenix and I will head downstairs in hopes we can somehow cut cameras, and moving around up here could be tricky. Mona, since you’re smaller and can hardly be spotted regardless of shadows or not, do some preliminary scouting. Don’t leave the first floor.”_

The three of them shared a look, nodded, then got to work.

\----------

“What a lovely brutish show of strength! But perhaps being a little more graceful on the execution could have been a possibility?”

Queen almost couldn’t believe how Noir seemed to be enjoying this much more than she probably should be.

The pair had just advanced through a second sewer gate via pure force. It did take a little straining, but Queen was strong enough to quite literally pull the metal gate out of its slot. It gave away so suddenly that she fell on her butt, much to Noir’s amusement.

“Noir, can you _please_ focus? I know there won’t be any guards down here, and the cameras are already on loop, but we really need to be quiet.”

“Right. Please excuse me…” She said, fidgeting with her pistol holster as the two started back on their prescribed path. “Anyway, isn’t the entrance to the compound just up here?”

Queen dusted off her tactical pants, which was more of a habit than anything else. “Yes, it is. Remember the plan?”

“Mhm!” Haru was enthusiastic about her reply, and fortunately quieter, too. “We’re going to quickly search the smaller building that’s closer to the manhole since it’s easier to reach, then the big building after. It’s still so surprising that the Kirijo Group somehow got access to an open sky city block within the Koto area.”

“Maybe they demolished the buildings here then built the compound when they bought the block.” Queen offered. “It’s not the first time a large corporation has done that in Tokyo. Anyway, our entrance should be right around this corner…”

The two rounded the corner, pistols drawn, only to reveal… absolutely nothing. Not a guard (which was expected) or a camera, but there wasn’t even a ladder that would signify the presence of a manhole.

The two women shared a look as Queen radioed in, waiting several seconds before Oracle picked up. _“Sorry, it’s hard dealing with multiple teams at once. What’s your status?”_

“Well, we think we’re in the right place, but there’s nothing here.”

_“What do you mean, there’s nothing there? I’m looking at your position through the tracking earpieces and you guys are like, ten feet in front of the manhole on google maps. And my shit is accurate.”_

Queen sighed as she walked forward, looking around the sewer walkway to see if there was anything amiss. Meanwhile, Noir jumped to the other side of the tunnel and onto the other walkway, checking around there. “Is there maybe a hidden passage that comes out of the wall, and would lead into the manhole somehow?”

“Hmm, not a bad suggestion…” Queen agreed, but that possibility fell short when she looked up. “Noir… Look.”

Queen pointed up and towards the middle of the roof of the tunnel, and Noir followed her finger to find a somewhat hard to see circular indentation in the roof. “Is that it?”

 _“I dunno, but the two of you are standing in between it, if that helps.”_ Oracle offered, which was fortunately enough to verify Queen’s guess.

“Oh, so that would explain why there are no guards down here. That manhole is at least ten feet above the water…” Haru mumbled, putting a hand to her chin. “We would only really be able to reach that with a ladder.”

_“Or with, ya know… your superpowers?”_

“Oh, yes! That could possibly work!” Haru exclaimed, which gave Queen a look of confusion.

“How? Do you think we have enough force to both jump ten feet up and about five feet across _and_ somehow push the manhole off the cover? Manholes are heavy, and we have no ground to push off of to force it open.”

They were silent for several seconds, both mulling in their thoughts, until Oracle spoke up again. _“You guys could just like, I dunno, piggyback off each other or something? Maybe Queen can hold Noir around the legs, so Noir can push the manhole open? Even if it’s heavy, Queen can still counteract the forces due to Noir pushing up via providing a normal force!”_

“I don’t know anything about a normal force, but I’m guessing you’re just meaning me pushing up Noir would cancel out the fact that she has nothing to stand on to help her push?”

_“Exactamundo! I knew taking those dynamic forces electives would pay off. Anyway, you guys gonna try it or what? That’s probably the only way in there, you know.”_

Queen took one more look at the manhole, and drooped her shoulders in defeat. “I guess we gotta do it, but we’re totally gonna fall into the sewer water afterwords… Well, ready to do this, Noir?”

The girl in question jumped back across the waterway to stand next to her teammate. “Yes, Queen! Hold me tight, and hopefully we won’t fall in!”

\----------

“Ok, Oracle, we’re in- wait, why are you laughing so hard? Get serious, please!”

Panther had to wait several seconds for Oracle to calm down. _“S-Sorry, just, whew… Something funny happened to Queen and Noir. Anyway, what’s up?”_

“You know how you said wiring in your device or whatever would fix the cameras to be on our side? Well, I don’t think it worked.”

Panther could hear some typing ensuing from the other side, followed by a long hum. _“Huh, I guess you’re right. I didn’t anticipate the firewall to be that strong there… The cameras seem to be connected via multiple layers, instead of just one big network. You wiring in my sabotage device only affected a handful of them. Or at least, that’s my guess. I can only look through 5 cameras.”_

“And I imagine there’s a helluva lot more than 5 in this stinkin’ building.” Skull finished. “Can’t we just shoot them down or something? Let’s face it, we’re gonna get caught at some point so we may as well just go for it.”

_“No, you moron! Look, I agree that we’ll get spotted eventually, but we need all the head start that we can get. Just stick to the shadows and if there’s a camera that you really need taken down, just wire me into it. I wish I knew more about this building, but I have no idea where the control room or the server room is. And if it’s in the basement, you guys have like, 10 floors to go down. It’s not worth it.”_

“But wouldn’t any door opening by itself be cause for suspicion?” Fox asked. “Surely at some point we would open a door into a room with a camera in it, which would only give us away.”

_“...Hmm, good point. I’d head straight to the basement, then. I just got word that team C has located the server room in the basement of the offices, and I’ll bet money that they did the same for site A, too. Your stairwell is straight ahead.”_

\----------

_“So, you guys think you found the server room?”_

Joker stood outside a pair of double doors in the basement level of the offices, eyeing up their potential target. “Well, the panel next to the door says ‘Server Room’, so I would think so.”

As the thief sized up the door in front of him, Phoenix slunk back into view from around the corner she was scouting, the shadows rendering her invisible to everything except for Joker’s eyes. “I think I found a control room, or barracks, of some sort. There were two guards standing outside a door, and I could hear the sound of a tv from inside.This place is actively staffed.”

 _“That doesn’t match up with what I’m seeing.”_ Mona sounded from his end. _“In fact, I haven’t seen a single guard up here, or anything else interesting for that matter. A couple of cameras, lots of cubicles, and some individual office rooms, but nothing else. Seems like a normal office to me. Anyway, I’m coming down to meet up with you guys.”_

“I don’t understand, then. If our scouting told us this was the most heavily guarded building, why would it be only for offices? Surely a compound or highrise lab would be more important than some offices?” Phoenix asked in a hushed tone, looking at Joker as he examined the keypad interface that locked the entrance to the server room.

“Sometimes, all the goodies hide in plain sight.” He muttered, eyes flashing yellow for a second. “And I think there’s more than meets the eye in this building.”

Thanks to his third eye, he was able to discern which numbers the password contained. The tough part, however, was figuring out the order they were in.

“Oracle, got any idea how to determine the order of these numbers? 9, 5, and 6.”

_“Uhh… How many digits is the code?”_

Joker looked at the screen interface of the keypad, sighing in slight frustration. “How am I just supposed to know that? I mean, I guess it looks like it could hold 6 digits?”

_“Well shit, cracking that cookie would be a lot tougher than I would expect it to be. May be more trouble than it's worth, actually.”_

“In that case, time for plan B.” Phoenix said, readying the tranquilizer pistol on her hip. “Take care to not be seen before shooting. Knocked out people can still talk once they wake up. The remaining question is how do we deal with the camera recording the hallway? It’s angled towards the guards.”

“Leave that part to me” came Mona’s voice from above, and the pair looked up to see the cat balancing on an HVAC pipe hanging from the ceiling. “I should be able to angle it to look back in the direction we came from so you two can take them out without fear of being seen, this pipe goes right by the camera.” As if to prove his point,

“Perfect, we’ll leave it to you, then.” Joker said simply, and Mona disappeared around the corner.

About a half minute later, the cat gave the ok, prompting the two thieves to sleuth around the corner of the hallway, sticking to the shadows. Down the hall, two armed guards lazily leaned against the wall, talking in hushed tones. Joker activated the Third Eye, honing his senses to see if he could clue into what they were saying.

“...think it’s ok. I mean, the sweet aftertaste is where it’s at, ya know?”

“I don’t care what you say, pineapple on pizza should be a crime punishable by jail time.”

The thief rolled his eyes, unholstered and aimed his silenced pistol, and fired twice in quick succession, hitting both guards in their unguarded necks. It took a few seconds for the tranquilizer to kick in, but they hit the floor silently.

“Huh, that worked better than I thought it would.” Phoenix murmured, looking down at her own weapon. “Anyway, let’s get inside.”

A quick tactical breach and two more knocked out guards later, the team found themselves staring at an extensive security system, showcasing your normal office spaces, but also all sorts of rooms with various equipment, operating rooms, and even what looked like a large, empty gym. Pulling out a black rectangular block from his tactical pants, Joker stuck a usb cable into one end, and the other into one of the computers. “Alright Oracle, do your thing.”

As the live feed was being transported back to their hideout, Mona hopped up on the desk next to a keyboard, eyes scanning the various monitors. “I didn’t see anything like this on the upper floors. Even these offices here look different. And yes, I did do some more scouting than you asked. It was surprisingly easy to cover all three floors.”

He expected a small chiding from Joker, but it never came. “So, if none of this was something you saw, then maybe there’s more to this place? Does it go underground?”

 _“It does. No wonder this place seemed so small topside, yet was so heavily guarded.”_ Oracle chimed in, and Joker watched as she flipped through the feed on the monitors in front of him, her software allowing her limited access to the computer she was plugged into. Just enough to give an advantage, but not so much as to announce a security breach. _“I can’t access any of the programs or cameras themselves without risk of being spotted, but I can at least render their cameras useless. See anything interesting on your side?”_

“What can I see that you can’t?”

_“I see whatever it is the monitors are displaying, so look around for anything that isn’t that, I guess.”_

A quick look around the room revealed nothing of interest, and Joker turned to leave the room in frustration only to see a diagram of the building on the back of the door. On the top of the diagram had the words in bold: **Please refer to the correct name of each floor for any deliveries to ensure maximum safety precautions are held depending on the payload.** “Oh hey, how did we miss this?” 

_“Miss what? Watcha got?”_

Phoenix stepped up next to the leader, studying the diagram closely. “It’s a map of some sort. Not your traditional one, like blueprints, but instead this one just says what’s on each floor. There’s 12 floors in total, it seems, including the three above. Let’s see… Offices are floors 1-3, security/server rooms is next…”

“So that’s us, and we’re on floor B1…” Joker mused quietly as Phoenix continued, turning his attention back to the monitors as the ex attorney read out the purpose of each floor.

“The three floors directly below us, B2-B4, are denoted as research labs. B5 is apparently the dissection lab, B6 is the strategy and planning center, B7 is the combat training floor…”

“Weird, but at least the names are self-explanatory. What are the last two?” Mona asked, turning around to look at Phoenix.

“Uhh… They’re…” It took her a few seconds to speak, prompting Joker to look back at her.

“What is it?”

“Well… B8 is the containment cells floor, and B9 is known as the... feeding grounds.”

 _“Uhh, excuse me? The what now?”_ Oracle asked, slight disbelief in her voice. Joker and Mona both turned from the monitors, their attention now fully on the schematic. The ladder jumped onto the former’s shoulder as he strode back across the room to Phoenix. “There’s text underneath it in bold, too… ‘ **If making a delivery to B8 or B9, please ensure the appropriate sedation measures had been followed before taking the elevator.** ’ ...What kind of fucking shady operation are they running here? Respectful tech conglomerate, my ass.”

He could hear Mona swallow his saliva, clearly uncomfortable by their discovery. “They better not be experimenting on animals or something… C’mon, let’s go to B8 first. I don’t think we have much of a reason to bother with the other floors when something this… crazy is an option.”

_“God, we’ve really stumbled onto some supervillain shit. I’d say go to the strategy floor first to see if we can catch anything about their plans, but seeing those bottom two floors is probably a better way to spend our time. Get going, you three!”_

And so they set off for the second to lowest level, none of them with even an inkling of an idea of what they could find below.

\----------

“Man, this shit is so boring. I think we drew the short straw with this one.” Skull couldn’t help whispering as they entered the stairwell to descend to the floor below, the previous one having next to nothing of potential interest aside from a sticky note listing a couple of employee’s names and numbers. 

Panther opened her mouth to scold him, but ended up sighing instead. “I have to agree with you on this. Only the top floor was a research lab; everything else has been offices. Maybe this one will be different.”

Fox, who had taken point, gave a small chuckle. “Consider your wish granted. This appears to be the forensics lab we have been searching for.” He pointed to a plaque next to the double doors that read ‘Forensics’ as he risked a peek through one of the door windows. “Or perhaps I may have spoken too soon. There appear to be more cubicles within.”

“No, I bet this is what we’re looking for!” Panther said excitedly, moving to the other side of the doors to face Fox. “Queen gave me a tour of the Shibuya Precinct once, the forensics machines and labs were all within the forensics department, including offices and cubicles. This has gotta be the right place.”

“Finally, some freakin’ action.” Skull moaned. “Anyway, we gonna breach?”

“Should we not inform headquarters of our discovery first?” Fox asked, to which Skull shrugged.

“Let’s wait until we find something worth reporting in. Angel is busy as hell with team B, and we haven’t even heard from Oracle. Team C must be in a shitty spot. But enough about that, let’s get cookin!”

Without much of a warning, Skull gently opened the door to the forensics department, the other two filing in quickly to cover his corners. Upon hearing a ‘clear’ from both sides of him, he relaxed slightly.

“Alright, if we can just find and incapacitate that one guard Angel saw on this floor, we’re golden, right?”

“Maybe, but Angel didn’t see any sort of forensics machine on camera, so there might be a part of this floor that isn’t recorded.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out. So let’s get our shit in gear, and kick some ass.”

\----------

“Well, that was a massive waste of time…”

Queen sighed as she gently shut the door to the smaller building of the two on the compound. “Agreed. Let’s make a quick call back into headquarters.”

Noir nodded as Queen tapped her earpiece, opening the channel between the two of them and the hideout. “Oracle, Angel, do you read me?”

_“Angel here, I read you loud and clear! Oracle is busy with team C at the moment, apparently they found something worth investigating. What’s up?”_

“I’m glad they at least found something.” Queen responded quietly as she and her accomplice skirted around the edge of the smaller of the two buildings. “The smaller building was a bust. Mostly lots of desks with computers.”

“It reminded me of one of the Okumura Foods call centers.” Noir added. “I suppose even the Kirijo Group has en masse calls to handle.”

_“Huh. Kinda disappointing, but at least we have another building to investigate. Which, speaking of, that one guard on patrol is on the other side of the building. You two could easily take the two standing at the main entrance if you take them down at the same time._

“You can take care of them, Queen. I’ll go around the back and search for that third patrolling guard.” Noir said, and slid into the darkness of the night.

A couple of well-placed tranquilizer shots with little to no time between when the first and second rounds were fired found the necks of the two guards standing in front of the main entrance. However, as one of them fell, their head lulled backward and banged against the steel door, making a large _clang_ sound. 

“Fuck!” Hissed Queen, sprinting forward across the gap between the two buildings and slamming herself into the side of the building to hastily conceal herself. She could already hear the third guard breaking from his patrol, running towards the front of the building. 

_“You only have a few seconds! Do something!”_ Angel cried out, and the panic in her voice did nothing to calm Queen’s rising nerves. Luckily, though, she was a quick thinker. Grabbing each of the knocked out guard’s arms, she pulled them up against her and into the shadows, silently praying that if she held them against her and the wall, they too would be concealed. Attempting to accurately shoot her pistol now while holding up two bodies would be out of her league, so the best she could do was hide and pray as the third guard came around the corner.

At first, Queen was terrified that her plan didn’t work out. The guard pulled his gun and held it in her direction, but she realized that his eyes were scanning the entire area around her. After a few seconds, he stood up straight, and reached for the radio on his shoulder.

“Taki, Yamato, you guys go insi-”

_“Taki, Yamato, you guys go insi-”_

_FUCK._

Even if the human eye could be tricked via manipulation of the shadows, it was impossible to hide the sound coming from the radio on both the sleeping guards’ shoulders. However, what was very possible was the fact that the third guard was reaching for a different button on his radio. A panic button, no doubt, and Queen knew she couldn’t stop him quick enough.

Fortunately, she didn’t need to.

A hand came from behind the guard, grabbing and crushing the radio within its grip with ease. Before he even had the chance to retaliate, the same hand covered his mouth, another arm wrapping around his neck. Noir had absolutely no trouble disposing of him, his futile attempts to break free with different maneuvers either easily countered by some of her own, or the fact that she held a pure strength advantage over him. Eventually, Noir won out, and the guard’s body went limp. She dragged it over to Queen, setting it by the other two.

“That was a close one. Where shall we hide the bodies?”

It was a simple question, but Queen was still hung up on other things. “Why not just shoot him? We could have avoided that whole thing.”

Noir shrugged, but pulled out her tranquilizer pistol. Placing it directly on his neck, she fired once. Then again. Then once more.

“There, that should do it.” She said cooly, holstering her weapon. “Do you want to just leave them in a dark corner out here somewhere?”

Queen knew that she had steeled her own resolve to fight fire with fire, but seeing Noir act this brutal still put her on edge. 

_Is this really the way we need to go? Noir didn’t even kill him, and that was way too overkill for what was needed..._

She swallowed her saliva, gathering her thoughts. “...Uh, sure. I think we can hide them, and then continue on. Hopefully no outside help was contacted.”

“Yes, but I think we should see if they had anything useful to us on their person beforehand.” Noir said as she performed a quick search of their victim’s bodies. 

As Queen was stashing two of the guards in a darker corner, she turned around to see Noir carrying the third body towards her.

“Did you find anything? Do I need to search these bodies as well?”

Once she dumped the body, Noir held up a small electrical device with a smile. “I’ve seen these before. This is the real life version of two factor authentication that protects your accounts online from being stolen. If you push the button here…” She pointed out a button on the side of the device, next to the display window. “Then the correct code at that point in time will pop up. If it works anything similar to what I have for a few delicate informational centers in the Okumura Foods HQ, the door rotates the code every half minute or so. If we put in the wrong code, then authorities are alerted.”

 _“I’ve been listening in for a little bit, I’m glad you found that, Noir. Those two factor authentication doors are stupid expensive, and also are stupid hard to crack!”_ Oracle pitched in from over the comms. _“But on the bright side, since they have such an impressive lock on that door, I bet they got the good shit inside! Team A already found a forensics machine, but who knows what you guys’ll find?”_

“Well then…” Queen started, then looked to Noir with a steeled resolve for whatever lay on the other side of the door. “Shall we?”

Noir’s response came via the push of the button.

\----------

Of all the possible things Queen expected to be in that larger building, a weapons warehouse wasn’t one of her top choices.

The vast majority of the building itself was a singular giant room, like a typical warehouse. A dozen or so shelves lined the room at regular intervals, but only a sixth or so of the entire space. From a distance Queen could make out several weapon racks, desks for weapon tuning, a shipping and receiving area, and several other strange-looking machines and devices on the other side of the room. There was even a desk with several monitors crowded onto it, likely to be either some sort of research equipment to go with the different machines, or maybe a personal computer for somebody who worked in the building. Finally, in the far corner of the warehouse was a separate room that carved a slot of its own space within the building. A lack of windows disallowed her to determine what was within.

“...Holy shit…” Was all Queen could get out, mesmerized by the sight.

Noir conducted a quick visual sweep of the area, and seeing that there was nobody around, she let her shoulders sag in relaxation. “We seem to be alone. But oh my, if all of these boxes are weapons and ammunition, you would think they are preparing for war…”

Queen walked down one of the aisles, inspecting the boxes closely as she went. “I don’t think there’s enough here to outfit, say, every police officer in Tokyo, but I’d bet there’s enough to at least kit out a decently sized task force.” Upon reaching the end of the aisle, she peeked into an already open box that sat on the ground at the end. Instead of seeing weapons like she expected to, however, she saw dozens and dozens of computer circuit boards.

... _What?_

Noir was an aisle down from Queen, and she looked equally surprised when she peeked inside a box with the entire top torn off. “This box has a lot of some sort of metal in it. Is it the same for you?”

“No, just circuit boards…”

“From the firearms on the far wall, I expected this to be almost a weapon distribution center.” Noir sighed, puzzled, as she drew her knife to cut the tape open on a nearby box. “And this one has the arm of a robot in it. What if this place isn’t what we thought it was?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure yet, but we should look around more.”

“Shall I turn on the lights to make looking around easier for us?”

“No, we don’t want to draw any attention to the building. We’ll have to make do with the permanent after hours lighting, and our flashlights.”

Noir shrugged and went to go open another box, but Queen was more interested in the desk that held several computer monitors than anything else. The desk itself was massive, but ultimately nothing special. Any sort of secrets to be reaped would come from the computer. Booting up any computer during the heist was collectively deemed a risky move, so the thief radioed in to get more input.

“Oracle, you there?”

_“You betcha! Wassup?”_

“Giving a status report. The larger building seems to be a warehouse of some sort. There’s weapon racks with weapons on them as well as what seems to be tinkering stations, but there’s also a plethora of random electronic junk in a bunch of boxes. What would probably be most interesting is a computer on the warehouse floor.”

_“Huh, weird. Remember to take pictures, you two!”_

_“Don’t worry, I’m doing so!”_ Queen heard Noir through the comms rather than via proximity, and a flash of a camera determined she was on the side of the room opposite to her, in one of the aisles of boxes.

_“Cool. Anyway, anything else, Queen? I think I’m needed elsewhere.”_

“Yeah, just one quick question. I know it’s risky business attempting to log into or plug your usb into a computer, but what if we just turn it on to see if we can get a name at the login screen?”

_“...Why didn’t I think of that? Great idea, Queen. Be sure to write down the name so I can do an in-depth search later. Even just knowing a single name would be an immense help to us. Ok, I gotta go now, glhf!”_

With the official green light, Queen pressed the power button to the huge PC tower underneath the desk. While she waited for it to boot up, she opted to take a look at the various things on the desk. And goodness, did this massive desk have a lot of shit on it.

The first object that caught her eye was a silver pistol encased in a glass box barely big enough to house it, the barrel held at a slight angle by a clear stand. On either side, the handle was adorned with a brilliant wooden panel with what looked to be a long and skinny cut of a blue precious mineral, held into place by a golden border. The barrel held the acronym S.E.E.S. carved extravagantly into the silver along with other designs, but what took Queen’s curiosity the most was the fact that the weapon looked very beaten up. There were several dents all around the weapon, the wood was chipped in one place, and there was slight discoloration of the silver on the handle.

All the wear and tear brought her to a quick realization - _This weapon has been used. A lot. And now it’s worthy of being put in a display case? That makes me sick. Why would you proudly display a weapon used to likely cause harm to others?_

What was next to the gun also got her attention - a framed photo of a large group of uniformed teenagers standing in front of what looked like an entrance to a dorm building. She wouldn't have paid much of any attention to it if she didn't notice the school crest on the uniforms just as her eyes were leaving the frame.

_That crest! That's definitely gotta be Gekkoukan!_

Gekkoukan; the school where the athletic elite of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area flocked in hopes of finding a spot on one of their nationally ranked sports teams. Or, if sports weren't your style, their academic program made Shujin's program look like an absolute joke. Hell, Queen even applied there but was ultimately declined. _Looking back on things, going to Shujin was the best case scenario to happen to me. No regrets on that._ _Either way, whoever owns this desk must be a very smart person._

Setting her thoughts aside, Queen turned to the final object of interest: another picture frame, however this one was a simple photograph of an auburn-haired girl in the Gekkoukan school uniform. Despite her gentle smile and somewhat messy bun her hair was in, Queen could practically feel the aura of confidence she held. She noted it to be similar to that of Joker - an aura of a natural-born leader. Taking a quick look back at the first photograph, she noticed the auburn-haired girl was standing in the middle of the group, with a very young looking Mitsuru Kirijo by her side.

_Kirijo looks no different back then than she does now… But I wonder who that girl is that she can be this popular and seem to retain so much respect from the head of the Kirijo Group?_

Pushing that aside, she took a few quick pictures from different angles of the weapon just as the computer finished booting up. “Oh, quicker than I thought. Let’s see here…” A short pause as she read the computer screen. “Noir, have you ever heard of ‘Fuuka Yamagishi’?”

“I can’t say I have, sorry.” She apologized, walking up to the desk. “I’ve finished doing a quick skim of all the boxes. It’s mostly just… electronics and robot parts. There’s a few boxes that have what I would guess are weapon parts, but I couldn’t imagine this facility is even remotely for weapons production.”

“Hmm… Angel, do you read me?”

_“Loud and clear!”_

“Can you look up the name ‘Fuuka Yamagishi’ for me, please?”

There was a short pause filled with the clickity clack of a keyboard. _“Uhhh, let’s see… She has a barebones LinkedIn profile, but not much else. Fuuka Yamagishi, Chief Engineer and President of R &D for the Kirijo Group, went to school at the University of Tokyo for mechanical engineering, and obtained a Ph.D in robotics engineering. Her profile picture makes her look like she’s late twenties, early thirties. And she’s got really cute blue hair!”_

“Leave it to the overbearing social media culture to allow us to glean that much information in such a short time.” Noir sighed, which Queen found as a little ironic, regarding the food giant’s own status. “That aside, she sounds quite a lot like our Oracle, doesn’t she?”

“Yes, which means that the things she does would also be on level with what Oracle can do. Maybe even higher, given her age. Somebody that young in a position that high is something you only see if they’re a one in a million genius.” Queen hummed softly, leaving the desk behind in favor of one of the weapon racks against the wall. “Regardless though, this must be her personal workshop. Let’s take a look around all the workshop stations, and we should probably check out that separate room at some point, too.”

It didn’t take long for them to find something interesting.

“Queen, come look at this!”

The woman in question pulled away from a half-built prototype of some sort of firearm and made her way over to Noir, who was pulling down a hefty looking rifle from one of the racks on the wall. “There’s a nameplate under this one. It’s apparently called a ‘Revoker’. That’s quite an interesting name, isn’t it?”

Queen studied it as Noir turned the weapon in her hand, careful to keep the barrel pointed towards the ceiling. “It is, but unfortunately we don’t have too much else to go off of to see if this is either something special, or just how they name all their weapons.” Pushing air out her cheeks, she turned her head towards the unopened door in the corner that led to the mystery room. “Take pictures of all the different firearms and their names. I’m going to see what’s behind that door.”

Fortunately, Yamagishi must have placed her trust in the security to get into this building in the first place, because the lock looked like it was a decade old. Unfortunately, however, it was still a keypad lock.

“Angel, can you get Oracle for me?”

It took a few seconds, but the gremlin was quick to pop into the comms. _“Hey make this quick, team C has discovered something BIG, and I need to get back to them asap.”_

Queen forgot her own question for a second. “Big? What sort of big discovery?”

_“Tell you later, focus on your own mission. What’s up?”_

“Fine. Anyway, can I send you a picture of this lock and you can tell me about it?”

_“Sure, go for it.”_

Queen snapped a pic of the lock in question and shot it over to Oracle, who was very quick on the analysis. _“Oh, that thing is a dinosaur! You can honestly just punch through the door and be fine. With knocked out guards, they’ll know there were intruders anyways.”_

“Well, if you insist, but I think there’s more elegant ways to get around this…”

Positioning herself parallel to the door frame, Queen balanced herself on one foot, aiming the other at the keypad. With a deep breath and a quick strike, she slammed her heel into the lock, breaking it clean off and allowing her to access the inner mechanism. From that point on, it was child's play to break open the door, only taking her several seconds for the hinges to creak and the door to swing wide open.

The smug grin Queen felt on her face immediately fell off once she actually looked into the room and saw what it was housing.

“Uhh… Noir? Can you come here, please?”

Seconds later, she could hear her jogging up from behind. “Why Queen, wha- oh my goodness, what is that?”

On the opposite wall in front of them was something that could only be described as a cryochamber, and inside it was a short blonde-haired girl in a skin-tight, white jumpsuit with a very odd-looking pair of headphones on her ears.

Queen was struggling to find an answer. "A girl? But she can't be, there's wires hooked up to her." Moving forward to get a closer look only confused her more. "But her skin looks so natural… what _is_ she?"

"Do you think she's being experimented on by the Kirijo Group?" Noir asked, snapping a picture of the setup. She sighed once she looked down at the photo. “It’s too dark, I’ll need to take one with a flash…”

Queen, however, was drumming up a reply. “Maybe, but we can’t be sure. Given we’re in a weapons facility, maybe she’s a weapon?”

Noir’s camera went off again, the flash slightly reflecting back the sight of the two standing in front of the glass panel of the chamber, but otherwise capturing a clear picture of what they were looking at.

And they were horrified when they noticed that in the picture, the girl’s eyes were open.

\----------

Team C’s journey to the lower levels of the underground Kirijo Group facility probably could have been a lot easier than they made it, albeit less stealthy. A bit of searching yielded a heavy-duty maintenance elevator the size of a room, and while Mona wanted to take it directly to the 8th floor, Phoenix voiced the concern that an elevator that size would be sure to draw in some unwanted attention. With that grievance in mind, the trio reluctantly set off down the stairs to the first of the three research floors.

The process was tedious, and that was still accounting for the fact that they weren’t even stopping on each floor. Any small detour would be too big an inconvenience and time wasted, especially armed with the knowledge that the tranquilizer darts only worked for a couple of hours.

The research and dissection labs weren’t anything special, and while the other two floors - the strategy room and the combat training floor - were quite self-explanatory in name, the trio were surprised to see just how literal the descriptions were. The strategy room looked like something akin to a college lecture hall that could seat up to 100 people, and the combat training floor was just a giant room made to look like the inside of a dojo.

The 8th floor, however, was a much different story.

“Geez, you’d think these guys are guarding the doomsday machine in here with the sheer amount of security they have.” Mona groaned after they neutralized another set of guards at yet another security checkpoint on the 8th floor.

“It very well could be that, with how many different doors and checkpoints there have been so far.” Phoenix replied in a whisper while she stashed a body behind another one of those weird janitorial carts. “But it’s very strange. On the other levels, there’s been countless cameras yet no guards. On this floor, it’s the opposite.”

 _“Which means whatever is down here is so secretive that not even closed-server security cameras are allowed to record it. Fiiiishy!”_ Oracle sounded out on the comms. _“Not to mention I have absolutely zero guidance to offer. You guys are flying completely blind down there.”_

“Some Oracle you are.” Joker quipped, which earned a scoff from his sister. “Let’s just hope this was the last one.”

Joker’s prayer was answered immediately when they used one of the guard’s keycards to get through the next door, only to find one more heavy-duty set of steel double doors behind that. The doors themselves were bare, and didn’t even have handles on them. The only thing that hinted any sort of opening mechanism was a small indention on the wall next to the doors, which upon closer inspection, looked like a retina scanner along with a fingerprint reader.

Determining those two options would obviously be a bust, Joker knocked on the door to test its strength. “This thing is the real deal.” He said’. “My intuition tells me it’s almost two or three feet thick, and the hinges are hidden in the walls, which are probably thicker.”

Phoenix cocked her head to the side, inspecting the door while tucking a stray strand of silver hair back into her skull cap that kept her hair out of her face. “So, you’re implying that whatever the Kirijo Group is containing is behind these doors?” Joker nodded his head, and she hummed. “I don’t know the extent of the Metaverse powers like you do, but is it possible to break through that with brute strength? As seeing the scanning options are most likely out of the question.”

Joker sighed. “Well, I’m not sure, but causing that much racket would likely end with us garnering attention somehow. Let’s think of something else.” Closing his eyes, he sharpened his senses, and focused hard on coming up with potential solutions. “What if we- wait, what the hell?”

Placing his hands to his chest, Joker could feel the Velvet Room key ramp up in heat more than it usually did when he was focusing. After a few seconds, the key was so hot he felt like it was going to burn a hole in his skin. He frantically pulled it out of his black shirt and undid the latch holding it around his neck, holding it out in front of him for the other two to get a clear view of what was happening.

The key itself looked like it had turned into molten magma, glowing a bright red and yellow, forcing the three to squint. And that was when he heard the voice in his head.

_Trickster, this is my hint. Danger lies on the other end, but know that your heart has been unshackled. The gateway to Shadow Tokyo lies open to you and your comrades. You simply need to reach out._

“Lavenza…” He whispered, finding himself getting used to the bright light as he took the sight in more clearly. And in that moment, he understood.

Focusing hard, he pictured a persona in his mind that was immune to fire. Upon thinking of one, he let himself go free, and could feel Lavenza picking up the slack. He felt - as opposed to seeing - images dart through his mind, of a dark, desolate place, one that looked very much like the real world, only that it was barren and empty. He felt more movement within himself and within that dark place, and once that movement subsided, he felt as if he were coming to his body after an out of body experience. He opened his eyes with a smirk.

“Lend your power… Black Frost!”

No persona appeared behind him, nor did he feel any new strength surging through him as summoning a persona normally did, but the Phantom Thief felt a distinct connection between him and the prankster-turned-demon, as if the persona was both here at the same time, but also not.

Putting aside those thoughts for later, Joker now gripped the key with relative ease while pushing it against the door. Thanks to Black Frost’s ability to not only nullify but also reflect heat, the intensely hot key seared into the steel door, melting the metal at a steady pace. Phoenix and Mona watched on in complete amazement as the process went on, the key taking roughly a minute to melt a hole large enough for all three to fit through. Once Joker realized the opening was large enough, he felt the heat dissipate from the key, and it once more returned to its normal state. Inside his mind, he felt Black Frost vanish back into the unknown.

There was silence for a little while, and then:

“Holy…” Phoenix started.

“...Shit...” Mona finished.

 _“Exclamation point!”_ Oracle practically yelled through the comms. _“Did I hear you call a friggin persona, Joker?!”_

“I… I think I did…” He said, now actually cognizant of what had happened. “It felt almost like instinct, like I was _pulling_ him from somewhere. I’m not sure how I did it, but I know Lavenza helped guide me.”

“We’re going to have to ask her about it tomorrow.” Mona stated, looking through the melted hole in the door. “But right now, we have more important things to do… Once this hole cools off. It feels like an oven in there.”

A few seconds after saying that, a low, eerie moan echoed from within, a creepy sound that pierced the soul of all three. It was quiet, yet deafening at the same time, as if the sound itself was hanging over their heads like impending doom. They exchanged horrified looks, their faces pale.

“In fact, how about we never go in there?” Mona asked, a quiver in his voice.

Joker knew it was a joke, but he still shook his head. “We’ve come this far. Now in you go, cat.” Picking him up with one hand, Joker held Mona steadily and thrust him through the opening. His arm was just barely long enough to get the cat through without him touching the metal, and he felt the weight fall off as Mona hopped down to the floor below.

Phoenix was next, opting to just crawl through the space. While it was certainly hot, and her clothes even singed slightly, she wasn’t any worse for wear. “I didn’t even feel it. C’mon… Wow, this room is huge”

Joker didn’t need any further encouragement, although he did opt to perform an acrobatic running dive through the hole, the gymnastics training he sometimes did with Sumire at the forefront of his mind. He nicked his feet on the edge of the exit, scraping his boots, but was otherwise perfectly fine. 

“Showoff.” Mona muttered as the leader got to his feet, brushing off his pants. “Anyway, c’mon, there’s a set of stairs there.”

Before he set off, Joker took a few seconds to take in the surroundings. They were actually on a catwalk high above the floor of the big room, a single staircase leading down to the ground. Below them were dozens of steel doors, complete with glass paneling starting a meter or so off the ground next to them, but the rooms inside were all dark and unable to be looked into without any sort of light shining in. The creepy moan echoed through the chamber once again, this time causing Joker to outright shake in uncomfortableness.

Even Oracle was affected, the moaning loud enough to go through the comms. _“What in the actual fuck was that? I’m shaking, you guys. Please please PLEASE be careful…”_

Nobody even bothered to respond, the tension in the room way too high for any of them to consider doing so. They didn’t dare speak as they slowly descended the stairs, the moans becoming more frequent as they drew closer. And upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, one of the steel doors even shook, whatever was behind it evidently trying to get out. 

They cautiously approached the nearest holding cell. With the dim, always-on lights providing just enough to see that there was movement inside, a quick search revealed a panel containing controls for both lights inside the cell, and a mechanism that would likely open the cell door. Mona jumped onto Phoenix’s shoulder for a better look into the cell as Joker took in a deep breath, then flicked the switch.

Horror.

That was the first thing that crossed Joker’s mind.

Thick, black puddles of what looked like pure black void shifted around on the ground. Almost a dozen hands of differing lengths were flailing in any direction they could, sometimes finding the ground and pushing down into it, extending the black void that was its body(?) upwards for a second or two, before sloshing back down into the puddle of itself. The puddles themselves glided across the floor, as if they were completely frictionless, and Joker even watched one smush into a wall, where the puddle defied all laws of physics and continued to move up the wall without any sort of outside help. 

But the worst bit was its face. Or at least, what Joker thought its face was. Two soulless, deep ruby orbs for eyes that looked like they were more for show rather than practical use sat above a mouth that gaped uncomfortably wide. The mouth made no motions yet was somehow protruding that horrible, creepy moaning sound, and for a split second Joker considered if it wasn’t that thing making the noise, but rather something else from whatever was within that puddle.

Placing several of its hands on the ground, one of the puddles suddenly pushed off the ground, its shape forming into something akin to a teardrop as it traveled through the air. It landed on the window with a _splat_ , pawing at the glass with its eyes and mouth pressed up against the surface. And yet again, defying all laws of physics, it managed to stay against the glass, despite retaining its teardrop shape, signifying gravity was trying to do its best to bring it back down. It was more than enough to send all three thieves out of their stupor, the trio stumbling back, almost tripping over themselves in shock.

“Wh-What the _fuck_ are those?!?” Phoenix stammered out loudly, any element of stealth already long forgotten in the face of the horrors in front of her.

“That… That has to be a shadow.” Mona said, gulping. “There’s no other way to describe… whatever that is.”

_“WHAT? YOU GUYS FOUND SHADOWS?! HOW?!?”_

Oracle’s question was left unanswered as more of the shadows leapt onto the glass, beating at it with their arms and hands wildly. In fact, Joker could hear the shadows in all the cells doing so, as if agitated at something.

It clicked instantly for him. “Th-They gotta be riled up by us. Because we have personas. We're their natural enemy.”

“Are you sure? What makes you think that?” Mona asked, then screamed as one of the shadows pounded on the glass so hard it actually cracked.

“Because there’s no way the Kirijo Group would have built something that Shadows could easily break out of if they had seen them in this much of a frenzy before.” Another crash sounded from behind, and they looked to see a hand sticking through a hole in one of the windows, black ooze in place of blood spurting out of the shadow’s arm that had been cut in the process. 

That was more than enough to spook the thieves. 

“We gotta get the fuck outta here. NOW.” Joker commanded.

That was all they needed to bolt to the stairs, bounding up four or five of them at a time, thanks to their abilities. But once they reached the top of the stairwell, they once again stopped cold.

Because standing on the other end of the skybridge, just in front of the now completely open vault doors and the thieves’ escape route, was a woman with long, dark red hair, holding a rifle that was pointed directly at the trio. Instantly, they knew who she was. All of them had done their research.

Mitsuru Kirijo. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's that for a cliffhanger?
> 
> In my mind, this is the first real heist of the story. Sure, the other ones could be considered as such, but in my opinion, this one is much more fleshed out, with the PTs finally having some decent preparedness behind their actions. Although it does seem no matter how prepared they are, nothing will ever go as smoothly as it was planned...
> 
> A little bit of trivia here: Originally, Angel was actually going to be a temporary codename for Shiho. However, as I write this, and especially Broken Souls, I've really come to appreciate the codename for her. It really fits her personality in this universe, and if you don't see that quite yet, you definitely will as I continue to update Broken Souls, and it will become much more evident as the chapters go on.
> 
> My next upload will likely be Broken Souls, since I want to work on that some more. After that, though, it's back to TWaM. And I already have a good outline of the next chapter, so stay tuned to see how the long-awaited confrontation between the Kirijo Group/Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves will go!


End file.
